Harry Potter and the Untold Prophecy
by Mr.Oakzzz
Summary: The story of the best books ever written, now with a slight change here and there. Slightly stronger Harry, sligthly nicer Draco, slightly different Snape and slightly more dangerous Voldemort. That promises to make it slightly better right? :)) AU-fic. Harry-Ginny romance in the background. Sry for bad sum but check it out and R&R!
1. Book One Chapter 1: The boy who lived

**Hello! This is reporting directly from his own bedroom where the first chapter of his first ever HP fanfic is finally finished! You guessed right folks! This story! I've written a few stories in other merchandise but that is unimportant. Like most of my ideas, this one just struck me like a lightning from a clear sky, but still ive been fantasising about the Harry Potter world for like 7 years so its not like its uncommon.**

**This will be an adventure fic that will start from the uh... start. In other words, i start writing from the very beginning of the first book. If i get good enough response, i will keep writing in the hopes of ending up with a complete re-write of the entire original story. **

**The story will feature a slightly stronger Harry, a slightly nicer Draco, a slightly different Severus and a slightly more dangerous Voldemort. That promises to make it slightly better right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any material from the original story or productions, except maybe the piece of wood i used to pretend was my own wand when i was a kid. :D**

* * *

**Harry Potter and the Untold Prophecy**

_Chapter One: The boy who lived_

It was quiet. The darkness was just about to swallow the streets around Little Whinging. In the far distance, a dog could be heard barking. A cold breeze blew through the garden of Private Drive and the lights from one of the lampposts were glimmering slightly. A cat sat on the fence to the house with number 4. It sat perfectly still and could have been taken for a garden ornament. Without warning, the light in the lamppost behind it failed. The cat didn't move a muscle. Then the lamppost to the right of the now dark lamppost seemed to fly off in the distance. This continued until the entire street was laid in darkness and an old man emerged from the bottom of the street. He was dresses in an all covering dark-red robe that was adorned with stars. His face and a big part of his front were covered in a long, silvery white beard the hang down to his belly.

After scanning the area for eventual curious eyes, he began walking up the street slowly. When he stopped by number 4, he noticed the cat that had followed him with its sharp eyes ever since he came into sight. He sighed and pushed his crescent-moon shaped glasses further up his nose.

"Well what a surprise meeting you here, Professor McGonagall." He said with a calm voice. It couldn't have been more obvious that this was as little a surprise to him as a gift on Christmas for a child.

The cat stared at him for a moment, but then finally stood up and took a jump into the air from the fence. While still in midair, it transformed into an elderly woman, dressed in a dark robe and a pointy hat. Her face bore signs of age, but her facial expression gave one the impression that she was still younger than she looked at first sight.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore." She said as she walked up to the man. Dumbledore looked at her for a moment, as if to measure her intention, but soon returned the faint smile his colleague gave him.

"I see it's as hard as ever to keep information away from you, Minerva." Dumbledore said as he leaned towards the fence of Private Drive 4.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She had gotten here as soon as she had heard the rumors and she knew Albus held the answers she was seeking.

"Then it's true? The rumors?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes. It looked like he had a long day.

"I'm afraid that it is. Both the good, and the bad." While he was talking, Albus Dumbledore reached inside his cape and pulled out a strange watch which showed planets and stars instead of usual numbers.

Professor McGonagall covered her mouth with her hand, but a sad sigh still got through.

"Lily and James are… dead?"

It was more a statement than a question, but Dumbledore nodded anyway to the other professor. He then looked up towards the night sky and seemed to study the stars, as if he was looking for something he had lost.

"He should be here by now." He said with a slight tint of worry in his voice. He closed the watch and put it back beneath his cape.

Professor McGonagall frowned with surprise.

"What?"

"The boy. I sent Hagrid to get him." Dumbledore was still looking up at the sky and didn't notice the shocked look that spread across McGonagall's face as she began putting the pieces together.

"You can't seriously be planning… to put the boy in care with those mugglers? I've watched them all day and I can't imagine a worse family for him to grow up in! They are horrible! They are…!"

"…Actually the only family he have left." Dumbledore interrupted.

Professor McGonagall was about to protest, but before she could utter a word she froze in place. Her gaze had wandered from Dumbledore and followed his gaze up to the sky where a cloud of black smoke had formed and was heading their way. After all the years of fighting, she would recognize that cloud anywhere. Her wand was out in an instant and aimed at the target that was closing in on them with surprising speed, but Dumbledore held up his hand to keep her from firing.

As the smoke stroke the ground in front of them, two silhouettes, one three times larger than the other, formed within the cloud and a voice could be heard through it.

"I toldya I could deliv'r the boy ma'self." The larger of the two shadows said with a rumbling voice.

"With all due respect, Hagrid, the fact is that you already was five minutes late and I didn't find it very… suitable to make the headmaster wait with such an important thing. Besides, I got some business with him myself." A calmer, almost silky voice answered.

Hearing the second voice, Professor McGonagall lowered her wand, but didn't put it back in her sleeve. She eyed the two silhouettes carefully while the smoke faded away, revealing the figures of Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid.

"I see you still haven't switched colors yet Severus." Dumbledore's voice sounded almost amused as the two men in front of him turned away from each other to look at the headmaster. Snape's eyes immediately went dark at the sight of the headmaster and Dumbledore had a pretty good idea what this "business" was all about, but before the black-haired man could utter a word, he was pushed aside as Hagrid eagerly made his way over to Dumbledore.

"I got him Sir. He was asleep when I found him so getting him here wasn't much of a trouble." Hagrid seems proud of himself for the accomplished mission. Behind his back, Snape muttered something about "free-lifter", but Hagrid ignored him.

Dumbledore nodded slowly and leaned forward to look at the baby boy Hagrid held in his left arm. The boy was fast asleep, but what caught Dumbledore's attention was the lightning-formed scar that ran over the boy's forehead. Behind his back, Professor McGonagall peaked over his shoulder to get a good look of the boy. When she also noticed the scar, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What is that Albus?"

Dumbledore eyed the scar for a moment.

"I believe it is something that will give me a lot to think about in the near future. But I don't think it's harmful for the boy so don't worry about it Minerva."

Having said that, he took the boy from Hagrid's protective arms and put him down by the front door of Private Drive 4. Professor Snape walked up to him and looked down at the boy. His face was hard to read, but Dumbledore could see he was torn inside about the boy. While he was the son of his childhood friend Lily, he was also the son of his school rival and bully James.

While Dumbledore's gaze was turned, Harry Potter opened his eyes slightly and met the gaze of his parents former classmate, but they soon shut close again from exhaustion. However, the single second the boy's green eyes met Snape's black was enough to cause the potions master to stiffen. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at this but decided to let it slip. Professor McGonagall walked up to her two colleagues and looked down at Harry. Her heart felt torn in two. The dark lord was finally defeated, they were free for the first time in decades, yet she felt at unease. She had lost some of her most loved people in this war. She knew it was the survivor's sense of guilt for surviving while they gave their life, but she still felt like someone had grabbed her heart with an iron fist.

They were interrupted by a sneezing sound from behind that made all of them jump. Hagrid was sobbing slightly and tried to blow his nose in what looked like an old towel. Dumbledore turned to him.

"Don't cry Hagrid. This isn't a farewell. He will come back to us."

The large man nodded tearfully. Dumbledore turned back to see that Professor Snape was glaring daggers at him. He sighed in defeat and placed the letter in Harry's infant hands before turning to walk away.

"Severus, I think we have some things to discuss. Minerva and Rubeus, you should try to relax and go celebrate this victory with your dear and closest. This is a moment of history."

His last comment left Snape even more frightful than before and Dumbledore could almost swear that Professor McGonagall gave him a worried look. But she nodded anyway and grabbed Hagrid's arm and they were gone with a low bang. Snape immediately opened his mouth, but Dumbledore held up a hand.

"This is not the place to discuss that Severus. Let's go to my office."

The potions professor looked rebellious and right out furious but he bite his cheeks together and just nodded. With that, the two men disappeared as well, one in a flash of bright light that returned the lights to the lampposts, and one in a cloud of black smoke.

* * *

Harry gasped as he awoke from rolling out of bed. He was sweaty from another nightmare and his head was hurting from hitting the floor. His breathing was unstable but it began to calm down as he took a deep, shaky breath and swallowed. He lifted himself up from the floor and sat down on his bed. He h tried to calm his racing heart by thinking that it had all been just a dream. But it had seemed so real. He put his head in his hands as he tried to remember what had happened in the dream. He remembered a woman smiling at him. She had seemed to be quite young, just as the black-haired man standing beside her, also he was smiling. Everything had seemed nice enough, but then an explosion had rucked the house, as a Harry got blinded by a strong, red light.

From then on everything became fuzzier. He remembered the feeling of being carried and someone shouting something about "it's him", but he couldn't make out anything more. As he opened his eyes again, he realized he had been clutching his hands in frustration and sighed. There was no reason to get so upset, it was only a dream.  
With this in mind, he reached out and grabbed his glasses that were lying on the floor beneath his bed. After putting them on, he stood up and stretched his back and gave off a slight yawn. He couldn't waste his time thinking about some stupid dream. He had to go ready breakfast or his uncle would never let him hear the end of it, and not in a friendly way. He exited the small room and took off down the stairs, jumping over the three last steps. The house was still quiet and peaceful as his uncle Vernon and his aunt Petunia were still asleep, not to mention his spoiled cousin Dudley. When he had made it to the kitchen, he immediately went to the refrigerator and picked out a pack of bacon, with which he made his way over to the stove and put on of the hotplates on highest possible temperature. Then it hit him.

Harry felt like he had just been hit by a very cold shower and he felt a tickling sensation just above his belly. He felt dizzy and steadied himself on the thing closest to him he could find. A green light flashed before his eyes and it made him feel sick. And in his head, a ghostly voice shouted words that Harry knew didn't existed. '_Avada Kedavra!_'

The smell of something burnt snapped him back to reality. Looking around to see the cause of the smell, he suddenly made out that his hand felt hotter than it usually did. Way hotter…

He let out a scream of pain, enough to wake up the entire neighborhood, and quickly withdrew his hand form the hotplate. He ran over to the tap and began flushing it with cold water while he heard a shout of rage from upstairs. Harry felt his blood freeze and thought his heart would stop beating. When he heard his uncle stomp down the stairs, he left the sink and evacuated into the living room. A second later his uncle's red face showed in the opening to the kitchen. '_now I'm in for it_', Harry thought.

"Explain yourself! What's the meaning of all this ruckas?!"

Uncle Vernon was hardly what you would call a patient man and this time was no exception. He looked just out furious and Harry was surprised that he even had enough self-control to ask for an explanation first, as he normally didn't.

"I-I became dizzy and accidently put my hand on the hotplate." Harry said and ducked to evade uncle Vernon's right fist that came flying his way a mili-second later.

"You imbecile! How clumsy can u become?! Well I guess it was expected, seeing what kind of parents you had.!"

Harry, who had been making his escape towards the hall with the stairs, stopped dead in his tracks. Surprised at this sudden change of tactics, Vernon froze for a moment to stare at Harry, which gave the boy enough time to turn around to look at his uncle.

"You never knew any of my parents so don't you dare talk about them like that! Especially in front of me!"

Oh great, now he was in for it. What the heck had he just done? What had gotten into him? Hoping to make up for his mistake, Harry darted towards the stairs but soon felt a hand grip his collar and pull him back.

"You insolent, ungrateful child! We have kept you alive ever since you were a baby, payed for your food and even allowed you to sleep in our house and yet you still got the nerve to talk like that to me!" Vernon erupted, giving off even more heat than a volcano.

As Vernon Dursley raised his right fist to hit Harry, the poor boy lifted his hands above his face to try and protect himself best he could. He closed his eyes and could already imagine the pain that would come in an instant.

But it never came.

Instead, a swich and a loud bang echoed through the house. Harry opened his eyes slightly to see what was going on. Vernon Dursley, still with a raised fist, had the left side of his face covered in dirt and a few pieces of a broken flowerpot on his shoulder. The man slowly turned his red faced head towards the direction from where the pot must have come. Then there was another swich and he was hit with another pot from the different direction. Harry's held his breath. What was going on?

When his uncle turned to the other side of the room, Harry saw one of the photos of his cousin that usually rested on one of the shelf above the fireplace, hang in the air above the man that still held his shirt in a tight grip. A second later, Vernor also noticed it and let go of his nephew. As soon as he did, it was like hell had broken loose. Things from all over the room began to hover through the air, aiming to hit the fat man on any piece of his body. Harry thought his heart would stop when his uncle turned towards him with a mixed expression of panic and murderous intent showing on his face.

"Get them off me! Get them off me or I'll get you back big time!" he roared.

Harry, knowing his uncle would probably "get back at him" anyway, instead turned and ran up the stairs and slammed the door to his room, locking it. The furious screams from the living room weren't shut out but at least it would take some time for Vernon to break up his door before he could get ahold of him properly.

* * *

Petunia Dursley had rushed down the stairs shortly after her husband had darted down to punish their nephew for waking them up. It hadn't been hard to pinpoint their location. Just follow the noise. However, she hadn't expected to find Vernon ducking out of the way of a storm of their many belongings, attacking him while hovering into thin air, while Harry darted out the room through the other opening. She heard the door slam on the second floor and as soon as it did, the things hovering in the air around her husband hit the floor down here. He stood still for a moment, well as still as he could while shaking with rage. Then he darted out of the room after Harry while roaring things that hardly sounded like human speech.

Petunia slowly walked over to the hall, keeping a careful watch out for any sights of flying objects. The bangs from upstairs were the obvious sounds of Vernon trying to break into Harry's room with his bare hands. The same moment a loud crash echoed through the hallway, quickly followed by a scream of pain that signaled that Vernon had gotten through the door and ahold of Harry, Petunia noticed the letters that had been drooped through the mail box. And a letter fronted with a certain text caught her attention.

* * *

It hurt. Everything hurt. From the moment Harry had regained consciousness again his world had been nothing but pain. He couldn't even move a muscle without sending a wave of pain through his entire body. The taste of blood was still present in his mouth and he was fairly sure that at least a dozen of his ribs had been cracked. He opened his eyes slightly to gaze up into the ceiling. Even the light that zippered through the closed curtains caused him to close his eyes from the headache it caused.

He was hungry and his throat felt like it was on fire. He was starting to wonder how long he had been lying there. The thought of it made him feel dizzy and he embraced the darkness as it reclaimed him once again.

The next time he woke up, he felt slightly better. He could move his arms slightly now and his chest no longer felt like it was about to fall apart. He slightly opened his eyes and made the quick judgment that it was dawn time. There were still a few glimpses of light getting through the curtains but they were much fainter than earlier. In the now darker room, Harry allowed himself to completely open his eyes. He would have drawn a sigh of relief at not having as bad a headache any longer, wouldn't it have been for the first thing he saw was the door to his room being unlocked. His heart went racing as he recalled what had happened the last time that door had been open. As he thought he would faint from his racing heart, his aunt Petunia stuck her horse-like face through the door opening.

"Oh. Good, you are awake." She said as she stepped inside with a plate and a spoon in her hand. Harry looked at the food on the plate suspiciously as Petunia Dursley made her way over to him and pulled out a chair after setting the food plate down at his bedside table. She looked down at him with an almost uncomfortable look. She then picked up the plate and began feeding him the mashed potatoes she had brought. Harry felt like a baby and was left severely confused as his aunt had never shown any compassion towards anyone but Dudley, but he didn't say anything.

"You have been out for two days. Vernon is still furious so try not to make any sound that could accidently remind him that you are still alive."

Harry's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything. When the plate was finished, his aunt picked up a small bottle of water she had been keeping in her pocket and helped him get some liquid into his mouth. After she put the now half-full bottle down on his desk, Harry nodded thankfully.

"This came while you were out. I'm sure you want to read it but I'm afraid it won't allow anyone but you to open so it will have to wait until you can at least use your arms."

With that, she picked out a mail and put it down on Harry's bedside table. Harry looked at his aunt questioning, still unable to speak as his throat had yet to recover from the dryness and the hits it had taken during his "punishment", but Petunia just grabbed the plate and left the room without looking at him. After a few minutes when he was sure she wasn't coming back, he turned his head to look at what had to be his first mail ever in his entire life.

The thought was exaggerating. But who could it be from? He didn't have any friends and to be honest only a few people knew he even existed. So who would feel like they knew him and cared for him enough to write a letter to him? he desperately tried to move his arm but it still hurt too much. But after changing his position he could at least see what the address said:

**Mr Potter  
Smallest Bedroom Second Floor  
Private Drive 4  
Little Whinging  
Surrey**

* * *

**AN: So how was that? I know my english isn't perfect but hey it's my secondary language! That ends the first chapter and i appreciate any kind of response and critique you can give me, positive as negative. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :))**


	2. Book One Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

**A/N:** Hey! Thank you for your kind words! They encouraged me to update as soon as i got this finished! When you have read this, i would like it if someone could check out and answer the poll i put up at my profile. I need to get your opinion on where Harry should be placed: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin?_  
_

**Disclaimer:** I do not won any Harry Potter merchandise!

* * *

_Chapter Two: Diagon Alley_

Severus Snape cast suspicious looks at the Gargoyle statue in the end of the corridor. He had no idea why the headmaster had summoned him this early in the morning, but he had said it was urgent. Of course, when Albus Dumbledore said something was urgent that could mean anything from running low on his favorite muggle candy to the return of the dark lord himself. As he reached the end of the corridor, the gargoyle moved out of the way before Severus had even said "chocolate mousse". Frowning at this, it was a confused Severus Snape that climbed the spiral stairs and knocked on the door to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Come in."

Snape opened the door and stepped into the cylinder formed room. The tower where it was located faced towards the lake and the view through the big window behind the desk would make anyone lose their breath. Severus however, wasn't anyone so he just walked up to the man sitting behind the desk.

"Ah Severus, you got my message."

Dumbledore sounded slightly troubled about something and Snape was tempted to use his legilimency to try and find out what. However, he withstood the temptation and just nodded as an answer. Dumbledore leaned forward and put his hands together in a matter-of-fact manner before he continued to the purpose of his summon.

"The time has come to move _that_ thing to its new home. I want you to go retrieve it from the vault in Gringotts."

Snape just nodded again. He knew the headmaster had wanted to assign someone else originally but didn't complain that Dumbledore had come to reason with his blind trust in Hagrid. No matter how loyal, one person could not do more than one thing at the same time and allowing Hagrid to retrieve the package while at the same time looking out for an 11 year old boy would not do.

"However before you does that, I want you to go get someone else first."

Before Dumbledore could continue, a big red bird appeared in a sudden burst of flames. Snape remained unfazed as Dumbledore held out his arm so that Fawkes could land and then carefully put his pet phoenix down on the table after looking at it for a second. He then turned back to face Severus who still hadn't uttered a word since he entered the office.

"It seems Hagrid is in position. This is where you come in. I want you to go retrieve Harry Potter from Private Drive."

If Dumbledore hadn't been so worried about the situation, he would have laughed at Snape's shocked expression. He literally looked like he had seen a ghost.

"What? I beg your pardon headmaster, but when I said I didn't thought it was wise to put so much burden on Hagrid, I meant that you should spread the objectives among more than one person, not just move them to another person."

Dumbledore nodded.

"I understood that clearly the first time Severus. That's why I have positioned Hagrid at the Leaky Cauldron to take the boy as soon as you make it there. He will take the boy for his pre-school shopping while you go to Gringotts and retrieve the package."

Snape, who had taken a step forward and put his hands on the front of the headmaster's desk, took a deep, calming breath and stepped back down again. He got t how the Dumbledore was reasoning. With no offense to Hagrid, he was a half giant and at the muggle streets he would have to walk through with Harry that would become too obvious. Snape on the other hand would not only be able to get Harry to Diagon Alley without drawing too much attention, he was more likely to not be able to speak to Harry and answer any of his possible questions. However, the promise of seeing Harry made him feel uncomfortable. This was _her _child, and the reason she had been killed.

After a casting a glance at Dumbledore, Severus realized he wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable about something.

"There is more messed up into this than you tell me isn't it?"

It wasn't a question. Judging by the headmasters frowning forehead, it was obvious something was troubling the headmaster.

"You know that the magical seal on the mail is enchanted, right? It is set so only the one it is addressed to can open it in order to ensure it don't get into the wrong hands. It also sends a confirmation when the seal is broken so that we know which student have really gotten their letter and which who hasn't."

Snape nodded in confirmation. He had a vague idea of where this was headed.

"The seal on his letter is still unbroken, isn't it?" Snape said.

Dumbledore nodded. Snape sighed. He knew Petunia Dursley during his childhood and he knew exactly how nasty she could be. Thinking of how jealous she had been of her sister when Lily got the letter and not her, he didn't doubt she would do anything she could to prevent her nephew from being accepted into the wizarding world.

"I think its best I'll get going right away." Severus answered with a very uncharacteristic voice of determination and turned to leave. What he didn't notice was the smile covering Dumbledore's lips as he left the office.

* * *

As Harry awoke after a very long night, the first thing he noticed was that the numbness in his arms had faded. Also, it seemed like his ribs had healed. For a moment he wondered if it was natural for such severe injuries to heal that fast, but his attention was soon occupied by the still unopened letter that was still lying untouched at his bedside table. He sat up slowly, barely able to contain his feeling of excitement. When no waves of pain raced through his body as it had last night, he quickly sat up and grabbed the piece of parchment. He broke the seal and ripped open the mail to find two letters inside. The first said:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
_

_Dear Mr. Potter._

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagal  
Deputy Headmistress_

Harry frowned. What was the meaning of this? Witchcraft and Wizardry? And what did they mean that they awaited his owl? It made no sense. He had never applied for a school, well except for that school for young criminals that his uncle had enlisted him in. He put the letter down to see what the other parchment said.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)  
by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic  
by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory  
by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration  
by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions  
by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  
by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection  
by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS  
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

Harry shook his head. This had to be uncle Vernon's way to blame him for what had happened in the living room. Still, this was unusually thought through for his uncle to come up with. He sighed as he put the letters back on the bedside table. It had been foolish of him to believe some unknown friend would care to send him a letter. Harry took a deep breath and sighed disappointedly. He would have given anything for that letter to be true. Just imagine what life would be like if magic really existed.

* * *

Severus Snape stepped out in the sunshine from his safe spot underneath the shadowed spot of Private Drive he had apparated to. Looking up and down the long street, he could hardly see any difference between the houses and their garden. His eyes focused onto the house that was numbered with 4. Taking a deep breath, he began walking towards the home that housed the sister and son of his long lost friend and love, Lily Evans. Just thinking about her made his heart crack anew. Hadn't it been for his own foolishness she maybe wouldn't have died? If she hadn't chosen that prat James Potter over him, the prophecy wouldn't have considered her. All that could have been prevented if he had just been able to contain his frustration that day…

He shook his head. It didn't do to dwell in the past. If Lily saw him now, she would have scolded him for being depressed at something that couldn't be changed. Determined not to give her that opportunity once he himself moved on, he rang the doorbell as soon as he reached the front door of Private Drive number 4. He could register an angry voice somewhere from inside the house and a second later the door opened slightly to reveal the face Petunia Dursley, née Evans. Her features had changed slightly since they had last met at the age of eleven, becoming even more horse-like and slightly more mature. '_Which probably can't be said about her personality'_, Snape thought bitterly. As expected, Petunia's eyes bulged out as a hint of recognition flew over her less than beautiful features.

"You?!" she shrieked.

Severus returned her shocked face with a fierce glare.

"Yes. Me. The one and only." He said coldly before pushing her out of the way, stepping inside and closing the door. Petunia's upset shout caught the attention of her husband, who stuck his ugly face in through the door to the kitchen.

"Petunia, is there something…?"

Vernon Dursley didn't finish the sentence as his eyes locked with those of the other man in the hall. His eyes became as thin as a thread as he stared into the eyes of Severus Snape. Without uttering a word, he left the doorway and moved over to pick up his wife from the floor.

"You're one of _them_ aren't you?" his voice contained nothing but pure hatred. Any normal person would have shivered under the glare that Vernon sent Severus, but as the Dursley man so fittingly had pointed out, Severus wasn't a normal man.

"That is correct. I am here to talk to Mr. Harry Potter." Snape didn't mind trying to sound friendly. It wouldn't matter at this point. Better just try and get it over with.

Vernon looked murderous at the mention at his nephew and took a step forward to face the man.

"Don't! You! Ever! Say! That! Boys! Name! In! My! House!" he put considerable force into each word as to make sure his intentions were made clear. Severus however, was not impressed.

"That is not for you to decide. It has come to our knowledge that Mr. Potter has not been allowed to open his letter from Hogwarts. You wouldn't happen to know the reason for that?"

At this, Vernon froze but the look on his face was that of a surprised man, not a concerned one as Snape had thought it would. A quick surge of legilimency was enough for Severus to know that the man's surprise was not feigned.

"By the look on you face I'd say you do not know anything about it." He said slowly as he considered the possibilities of what could have happened. Then he turned to Petunia. The Dursley matriarch met his gaze and took a step forward.

"I gave him the letter without Vernon's knowledge. If he hasn't read it, he got only himself to blame. "

Snape frowned at this. It seemed highly unlikely that Harry Potter would resolve to ignore a letter from Hogwarts, but one look into Petunia's eyes was enough to see that this was the truth. However, there was something else underneath that truthfulness. She knew something about why Harry hadn't been able to read the letter. For a moment he was tempted to use his legilimency to find out what, but held back thinking of all the scenes he knew he did not want to see if he searched through her memories. Instead, he just moved over to the stairs.

"Just where do you think you are going?"

Vernon stepped forward to grab the man but at the sight of Severus wand, which had magically appeared through his sleeve, he stepped back.

"Do not try and stop me." Severus said with a cold voice that made the other two shiver. Dudley, who had been watching through the opening to the living room, quickly moved away from the opening as if he had been burned.

* * *

Harry sat on his bed and read an old book he had found in the wardrobe. It was not much fun, but at least it kept his thoughts away from the disappointment the faked letter had given him. For one night, the night it had taken for him to recover enough to sit up and read the faked mail, he had believed he maybe had made a friend somewhere. Just as he turned pages, he heard someone talking downstairs. He could make out his uncle's voice and his aunt's squeak over something. Then he heard another male's voice. One he didn't recognize. It was calm and somewhat cold voice. Harry did his best to make out what they say, but their conversation ended when the unknown voice said "_Don't try and stop me"_

Shortly after that, he heard steps on the stairs as someone walked up to his door. When the steps came to a halt just outside his own door, Harry peered curiously at the doorknob. A second later, the door glided open and in the opening stood a middle-aged man with long, black lardy hair and a nose that made a banana look straight. Suppressing the urge to laugh at his own thoughts, Harry tried to smile as politely as he could.

"May I help you sir?"

He hoped he sounded natural. It reminded him of how the clerks at Dudley's favorite warehouse used to greet their customers but hey, he had never gotten even a decent lesson in how to behave nicely.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Potter."

Being referred to as "Mr. Potter" both shocked Harry and made him painfully recall the letter he had received. The man who had addressed him stepped inside the small room and closed the door. Harry put his book down and looked at the man cautiously.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Professor Severus Snape."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Professor? Wasn't that a kind of doctor? Had someone alerted the hospital of uncle Vernon's treatment of him?

"Did my uncle call you to check up on me?"

Severus Snape pulled out the chair that stood by Harry's desk and sat down before answering.

"No. As a matter of fact, I was sent here because no one had contacted us."

Harry eyed the ma suspiciously. Something was odd. Why would a hospital send a Professor for the mere fact that someone hadn't gotten in contact with them at a specific time? It's not like they knew he existed anyway…

"I work on a school named Hogwarts."

Severus smiled as he noticed the freshly opened mail on Harry's bedside and the recognition that drew over Harry's face. Harry however, was shocked.

"Were you the one that sent the letter? Does that mean this school really exists?" Harry pointed towards the piece of parchment that was lying on his bedside table.

Snape nodded at this.

"Yes. And you are to enter that school at 1 September. You are a wizard, ." Before Harry could utter his distrust in these words, Severus held up his hand and Harry quickly shut his open mouth.  
"You can do things, can't you? Maybe strange things occur around you when you are angry or scared?"

As the words from the potions master sank in, Harry remembered the hovering objects that had attacked his uncle a few days ago. He remembered the time when Dudley was chasing him with his gang and suddenly he was on top of the school roof. He remembered the time when he had been in the park and Dudley had bullied him and he had cried out for help. Help had arrived in form of a snake that bites his cousin's wrist, freaking out the larger boy and causing him to forget about Harry.

Refocusing his glance, he stared at the man in front of him. His dress was a little off to what Harry was used to see. He wore a black, flowing robe that covered his entire body. That was not a dress the average man used to wear.

"Are you also a wizard?"

At this, Snape smiled weakly as he recalled Lily also asking if he too had magical abilities after he told her that she was a witch.

"Yes I am. In fact I will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts, teaching you potions making."

Harry's eyes were glimmering. He didn't know what to think. It was too good to be true. How could he know this man wasn't just fooling him?

"Can you show me? Some magic?"

At this, Snape bit his lip. He knew that it was originally strictly forbidden to use magic to show off in front of future students. On the other hand, he knew that no one else followed that rule and what harm could it do to introduce the boy who lived to the world he would be living in from now on? Therefore, he picked out his wand and pointed it towards the book Harry had put down on his bed.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

After a slight movement from his wand, the book floated up into the air and Snape went on to guide it all the way around the room before putting it back down on the bed again. Harry's eyes were bulging out and glimmering with happiness.

"Will I also be able to do that?"

Snape looked down at the eager youth with a sense of mild satisfaction. He if someone knew that Harry would grow up to become a more than capable wizard if the prophecy was accurate.

"You will be able to do far more than this if you just takes your studies seriously and work hard." He replied. "Which leads us down to the fact that you still don't have your school stuff? Why don't we make sure to change that?"

Harry nodded eagerly and stood up before Snape even had time to react. The potions professor followed as the boy with the lightning scar opened the door and made his way downstairs. His aunt and uncle were still standing in the hall. The two eyed their nephew and his soon-to-be teacher with a mixed expression of resentment and ill-wishes. The happy feeling that had entered his gut when he had learned that he was a wizard left Harry in an instant as his uncle spoke up.

"If you as much as sets foot in that cursed world you won't have a home to return to here! Just know that much!"

Severus shot the man a fierce glance and made sure his wand was visible.

"Oh is that so? I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will be most interested to hear that."

At the mention of the name Dumbledore, Vernon's face reddened with rage but he did his best to keep it down as he was well aware that Severus had his wand in his hand. Petunia did her best not to look at Severus, but failed miserably as her gaze constantly travelled to the small piece of wood in his hand.

"Why don't you go on outside Mr. Potter? I got something to discuss with your dear relatives."

Harry did as he was told, though he shot one last look at uncle Vernon before he closed the door behind him. Once outside, he stopped and leaned back against the door. This had to be a dream. He lifted his right hand and pinched himself at the chin. No, this wasn't a dream. Rubbing his chin where he had pinched himself, he tried to let everything sink in.

He did not know how long he had been standing there, but after what felt like several hours Severus Snape opened the door and stepped out. When Harry looked at him questioningly, he simply said:

"I have made sure they are to take you back in once you have gathered all what you need."

With that, he grabbed Harry's arm and suddenly Harry felt like he was pressed through a very tight pipe. He could barely breathe and his eyes got watery from the uncomfortable sensation. Just as he thought he was about to choke, the pressure on his body let go and his lungs got filled with fresh air. Coughing after the unexpected pressure had finally left him, the sound of traffic and a crowded street nearby made him aware of that they were no longer at Private Drive.

As he looked up, he saw that they were standing in an alley aside from the main street. At his right side, Professor Snape was standing and was apparently waiting for him to recover.

"T-that was amazing." Harry choked up.

"Before we proceed, Mr. Potter, I need to make sure you understand something. You are not originally from the muggle world at all."

Harry, who had begun to calm his breath, looked up at the man with newfound curiousity.

"What are muggles?"

Snape sighed. Maybe he should have let Hagrid explain this instead. That would have saved him lots of trouble.

"Muggles are people with no magical abilities, such as your uncle and aunt. However, your parents were both blessed with magical abilities and so you were born with it, inherited from them."

"My parents were magical too? Then how come they died in a car accident?" Harry couldn't understand how someone who could use magic could die from something as simple as a car crash.

Severus looked around cautiously before turning back to Harry again.

"I am about to tell you the story of how you became stuck with your cousin's parent and how you became the most famous young wizard in our generation. Make yourself comfortable."

Harry frowned.

"What do you mean "most famous young wizard in my generation"?

Snape sighed. This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Hagrid sat silently on a chair in the half full Leaky Cauldron. Not many people were currently occupying the bar, seeing as most of its usual customers were currently running errands in Diagon Alley at the moment. It was well after lunch time and Hagrid was beginning to wonder what could possibly take Professor Snape so much time. He had been waiting here all day.  
While he felt cranky that Snape was well after schedule, he also felt a little nervous. He looked forward to seeing Harry again, but he was worried about what state he was in. According to Professor Dumbledore, Harry's relatives weren't the best muggles out there. It had been hinted by the headmaster that Harry may not have been as well taken care of as they had hoped when they left him on the Dursley's doorstep all those years ago.

Hagrid was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the door to the Muggle Street open and close. He, along with the few other customers in the bar, turned to see who had entered. They were greeted by the unmistakable figure of Professor Severus Snape, who was accompanying a young boy with black, unkept hair and round glasses that seemed to constantly fall down over his nose. Hagrid's eyes widened. For a moment he almost thought that James Potter had been reborn, but then he met the boy's eyes. Those green, friendly eyes. There was no mistaking them. Lily's eyes. Other than them, Harry looked just as Hagrid remembered James looking when he had first come to Hogwarts. As Snape and Harry walked up to Hagrid, the bartender Tom made his way over to them.

"Can I get you something, Professor?"

Snape stopped in front of Hagrid and looked down at Harry, giving the boy a small nod which were returned by said boy, before answering.

"No thanks. I was just going to deliver young Mr. Potter here to Mr. Hagrid."

Tom's jaws dropped almost all the way down to the floor as he stared at the boy and his gaze were immediately drawn to the scar on his forehead.

"Oh my god. It's Harry Potter!"

In a matter of seconds, everyone in the entire pub turned to look at the four people standing by the bar side. Then everyone rushed over to greet the boy whose eyes went wide with surprise as the customer were all over him, wanting to welcome him back to the magical world and, most of all, to shake his hand. In the turmoil that followed, Severus silently made his way over to Hagrid.

"I leave him in you care. Once you are done shopping, send him home with the Knight Bus."

Hagrid nodded in agreement. Though he did not like to admit it, the only ways he personally would be able to get Harry back to Private Drive would most likely attract a lot of unwanted attention.

"You can count on me." He answered.

Then, before he could say anything more, Snape was gone. He looked around in shock but could no longer spot the potions Professor. He just shrugged at this and turned his attention back to Harry who, for the third time, shook hands with Doris Crockford.

"Harry! We better get going!" he shouted to the boy, who was still stunned by the attention he received. The boy looked up over the crowd and was secretly pleased that he would get away. He said good bye as politely as he could before he took off after Hagrid when the half giant went out to the backyard.

* * *

Snape scanned the Diagon Alley suspiciously as he made his way over towards the Gringotts. They had been reached by a hint that someone was out to steal the package he was to deliver to Hogwarts. Given all the extra protection it would receive once within the walls of the great castle, any logical thinker would prefer to get it before it was transferred or during the transfer as that would be the time when the package was the least guarded. And then he spotted what he was looking for. A man with purple headwear was quickly making his way through the crowd, aiming for the bank at the end of the street. Severus eyes narrowed as he took off after the man. He had to reach the bank before Quirell did, or else hell would break loose, literally!

* * *

Harry gaped as he and Hagrid made their way through Diagon Alley. It was like a dream. The first place they had stopped by was the Wizarding bank Gringotts. After meeting the alfs that worked there, Harry had gotten to know that he had an enourmous amount of gold in his possession, left behind by his parents. They had then gone to Flourish and Blotts where they had purchased his school books. Harry had been tempted to buy the entire store to learn more of the magical world, his world, but Hagrid had kept him from doing so. Now they neared the end of their shopping tour and the only thing left was a wand.

"Why don't you go on to Olivander's on your own? I need to go get something." Hagrid have Harry a pat on his shoulder that almost made him fall over. The giant man seemed to not be aware of how strong he was.

As Harry made his way over to the shop Hagrid had pointed to, he thought of everything that had happened today. First he opened his first mail ever and found it as a bad joke. Then he got a visit from a person who not only confirmed that the letter was no joke, but told him he was a wizard. And now he was a celebrity known since he was an infant. He shook his head. It was all just too crazy, but he had pinched himself so many time his felt numb in almost his entire body and he still hadn't woken up.

As he entered the shop, he at first thought it was empty. Then a man came gliding over to him from a shelf. He cast one look at Harry, and then his face lit up with a smile.

"I was just wondering when I was going to see you here, Mr. Potter."

Mr. Olivander immediately went behind the shelf to try and find him a suitable wand, all the while blabbering on about stuff Harry had a hard time making out and an even harder time to understand. After a while, Olivander emerged from behind the shelf, holding an oblong pack.

"Try this one. 12 inches and Unicorn mane hair, elastic."

Harry took the wand from Olivander and after an urging from the grey haired man, he simply waved it. A second later, the window cracked.

"Apparently not." Was all Olivander said before he returned to his shaded place behind the shelf's and Harry put the wand down on the desk. A second later, Olivander was back with a new wand, which he said was made of oak wood and contained a dragon heart string. After Harry waved it, one of the chairs flew over the desk and hit in the head. Not the least discouraged, Olivander took off into the forest of his many products to pick out a new wand. And that's how the next half hour went. Olivander kept picking up new wands, only for Harry to accidently break something with it. Then, as the pile of wands on the desk began to sway from unbalance, Olivander picked out a new wand pack with a contemplative look on his face.

"I wonder…" he said as he returned to Harry. "Try that one."

Harry accepted the wand and as soon as he got ahold of it, he felt it. A warming sensation began spreading up his arm from the hand that held the wand. He waved it and suddenly, all the damage his earlier attempts had caused was gone. The shop was as whole as when he had entered. Harry's wonder at the piece of holly he held in his hand was broken as he became aware of Olivander again.

"Curious. Yes, curious indeed."

Harry frowned at this as Olivander took the wand from him and put it in its container.

"Excuse me sir, but what's so curious?"

The wand maker gave him a measuring look before he answered the question.

"I remember every wand I have ever sold, Mr. Potter. I remember your parents' wands as if it was just yesterday they bought them. Therefore, it's curious that you should be meant for this wand… when its brother gave you that scar."

Harry didn't need him to point at his forehead to know who he was talking about. Severus had told him about the wizard that had killed his parents, the wizard considered the most powerful and evil wizard of all times.

"Voldemort…" he whispered.

At the mention of the name, Olivander hyshed his customer as if he had spoken a curse. He wondered if everyone in the wizarding world were afraid to speak his name, but the ones he had met this far sure were.

"What does that mean?" he asked, though he was not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Olivander seemed to think for a second.

"I think we can expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. Actually, he-who-must-not-be-named did great things. Horrible yes, but great."

Harry felt his heart tremble when he thought about the man that had killed so many people and been powerful enough to wage war on wizard kind itself.

"Did you sell him his wand?"

He didn't know what made him ask it. It was like he wanted to know more, but at the same time he was terrified.

"Yes I did. Crafted from Yew, it held the only other feather ever left behind by the phoenix that also gave me the feather used to craft the wand you hold in your hands…"

The dim atmosphere was broken as Hagrid knocked on the window. Harry forced his glance away from the wand maker and saw Hagrid held a cage with a snow white owl. When he realized that Hagrid's mouth was moving in an attempt to say "Happy birthday", Harry quickly snapped out of his dim mood and payed for the wand.

* * *

Harry felt a little dizzy as he stumbled all the way back up to the door of Private Drive 4. The Knight bus was not a transport method he would use again anytime soon. As he entered the building, he was greeted by his cousin who was standing in the doorway. Dudley just stared at him before shouting:

"Mom! Why has Harry gotten money to buy a lot of weird stuff and not I?"

Harry had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing as he made his way past the furious Dudley. A moment later, his aunt came rushing to try and calm her spoiled son down. She cast an angry look at Harry but didn't say anything. When Harry had finally gotten his new stuff to his room, he stopped and stared at the old book he had been reading when Severus had interrupted him.

"I think I will have more fun stuff to read for the rest of the summer." He said to himself while smiling uncontrollably, as he pulled out one of his new books and threw himself into bed to take his first steps to becoming a true wizard.

* * *

**A/N:** And that ends the second chapter of my first HP fanfic! :)) For those who are interested in the pairing I can spoil the surprise and say that Harry and Ginny will meet for the first time in the next chapter!

Now dont forget to review! I want everyones opinion on my writing and I also want everyones opinion on what house Harry should be put in!


	3. Book One Chapter 3: A destined meeting

**A/N:** It looks like people like this story. :) That keeps me going so here's another update! Chapter 3 is mainly focused around Harry's and Ginny's first meeting and i have really been trying to get this good. I love this pairing and if it wasn't for my will to keep it as likely and real as possible i would have thrown them together in the first chap already! Anyway, i hope i portrayed their meeting well. I'd like to hear any comment u may have for this so plz review!_  
_

* * *

_Chapter Three: A destined meeting_

Harry smiled as he closed his book. He had never been one to study, but this stuff in the magical world was actually really interesting. It was nothing like the math he had been taught in his muggle school. There, you were taught how to equal X with Y and a lot more that Harry didn't have a clue of how to even think of. In the magical world, you were taught the theory behind transfiguring a needle into a match or how to brew a potion that makes your ears turn purple. Though he had yet to actually perform any of this magic, as Professor Snape had warned him that it was forbidden to perform magic outside of school as long as he was under age 17.

However, it was only a day left before it was time to go to school. It wouldn't be long now before he could practice his magic. He got Goosebumps just thinking about it. When he had asked his uncle to drop him off at King's Cross, he had seemed reluctant to do as Harry wanted but the reminder of the wizarding world was enough to persuade him. Harry wondered what Professor Snape had told his aunt and uncle to make them so cooperative. As he was thinking about it he felt his jaws being forced open by a big yawn. A second later, he fell asleep.

* * *

It was dark. Everything was completely silent. Not even her older brothers were making any noise. They were probably trying to get some sleep for once. Tomorrow they would leave her and return to Hogwarts. The silent tears that streamed down Ginny's cheeks at the thought of being left all alone glittered in the moonlight that streamed in through the window. Her quiet sobs were the only things that broke the otherwise complete silent. Even her youngest brother Ron, whom she had always played with, was going to the school now and she would not have a single friend or sibling around to play with. The house would be so empty. Well of course her mother would be there, but that wasn't the same thing. You couldn't play with Molly Weasley. Not only did she completely miss the sense of humor the rest of the family had, but she was always busy cooking or doing something else.

Ginny would be left to fend for herself, like an abandoned puppy. Well, now she would get the alone time she always hissed about. But she hadn't meant it like this. Of course there had been times when she just wished her brother would leave her alone but she didn't want them to be gone for an entire year. Maybe now she would be able to practice flying in daylight, but then again it kind of took the thrill out of it to not sneak out during nighttime. Maybe now she would be able to keep her privacy and have her room for herself without them interrupting but what good would it make if her daydreaming wasn't real? She kept pondering opportunities and their drawbacks back and forth, all the while silently allowing her tears to run down her cheeks. Needless to say, Ginny Weasley did not get much sleep that night.

* * *

Harry awoke early the next morning. After noticing he had slept with his clothes on, he went to the bathroom to get a little refreshed before walking down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He was extra careful to keep his hands away from the hotplates. Once he had fried the eggs and bacon, he went and set the table, all the while trying his best not to shout out his happiness. Today was the day! Today he would be leaving his normal life behind and start a new one in a world where people actually respected him! He would be rid of the Dursleys and their habit of kicking him whenever opportunity arose. Just as he thought about it, Petunia and Vernon entered the kitchen, both looking tired from what had to be a nearly sleepless night. Petunia shot Harry a glance but turned away as soon as he returned it. Uncle Vernon however, was different.

"Eat up quick and get your stuff. The sooner we get rid of you the better."

Harry was about to protest but stopped when he realized he felt the same. The sooner he could leave this house the better. Therefore he just nodded and quickly swallowed down a few strips of bacon and a fried egg before running back up the stairs to brush his teeth and get the trunk he had loaded the day before. He picked up the book that was lying on his bed, the only school book he hadn't finished yet, and put it in the trunk before carefully getting it downstairs where Vernon was waiting. He didn't say a word and Harry didn't complain, given that for uncle Vernon this new silent treatment was an improvement. Not a word was uttered during the journey and it wasn't before they were walking down the platform that uncle Vernon broke the silence.

"We have been told to come get you here next summer. If you don't show up then, the cost for fuel will be well worth it to be rid of you for good so try to not show up, will ya?"

Harry seriously considered to actually doing as he said and when he turned to say it to his uncle, he was already gone. Shaking his head, the boy who lived instead made his way down the platform to try and find where he was to board the Hogwarts express. He found platform 9 and thought that he had arrived. But when he went on to check, the next platform was 10, not 9 and 3 quarters as his ticket said. He wondered if maybe they had printed wrong on the ticket. He was tempted to ask but didn't for fear to be thought of as stupid. When he looked around, he realized people were staring at him. Well, maybe that's not too strange considering he was managing a trunk that was almost double his own size and on top of that had a cage with a living owl in it. Thinking about his opportunities, he suddenly heard a voice. It was the voice of a woman.

"…and packed with muggles of course. Why can't they get a better place to send of the children where we won't have to hide us?"

Tracing the voice back to its owner, Harry found a group of red-haired people that made it look like the fire was loose when they stood so close together. The group was led by a round woman with a chubby face. Behind her were two boys, one which seemed a lot older than the other, and in their wake a small red-haired girl was slowly walking behind what had to be her brothers. Harry carefully watched as the older boy began moving towards the barrier between platform 9 and 10. For a moment it looked like he was about to hit it full force and Harry was about to shout a warning when he suddenly disappeared. Thinking he must have found right, Harry made his way over to the remaining three people.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how I get to platform 9 and 3 quarters?" he asked. However, the red-haired woman was busy trying to get some dirt of her youngest son's nose, to the boy's great dismay, and didn't hear him. Instead, it was the girl who answered.

"I can help you. Just walk straight into the barrier between 9 and 10. If you are nervous, try and close your eyes. Some people say it helps." Her voice was soft and made something deep within Harry tickle, but he ignored it and focused on the task at hand. Looking uncertainly at the girl, who smiled back at him, he began moving towards the barrier. As he was about to crash, he closed his eyes and pleaded to god that it wouldn't hurt too much. Well he had his wish heard, because it didn't even hurt the least. Slowly, as if he was afraid it would hurt as soon as he saw his cracked body, he opened his eyes. And realized he was no longer at the original platform. In front of him stood a brownish red train with the title "Hogwarts Express" on its front. He had made it! A second later, the girl appeared behind him, along with her mother and brother.

"See? It's not that hard once you get the hang of it." She giggled.

"Yes, thanks a lot." Harry said.

The boy, who had somehow gotten rid of his nose dirt, smiled at him as he and his mother made their way past them and over towards the train. Harry vaguely expected the girl to just follow her family, but instead she backed away into a corner. Harry frowned as he looked at her, looking over at her family with a longing look of jealousy. Then it hit him. She must be one year younger than him, meaning she wouldn't be going with her brothers to the school. And now, she felt alone because she was the only one left. Looking into her eyes, Harry felt his heart crumple. He recognized that feeling. The feeling of being left behind, the feeling of loneliness that came when everyone else could do something and not you. He had felt it himself too many times to count and looking at this girl, he realized how pitiful he must have looked at those times. She had been so nice and helped him through the barrier. He wanted to do something about this, but no matter how much he wanted he couldn't make her grow one year older in a second. Maybe he could help her feel less alone while at home instead? And that's when he came up with an idea.

"Well, thank you so much for helping me." He said as he left his trunk and walked over to the shadowy corner where the girl withdrawn to.

"No problem…" she said, barely registering what he said. She still had her eyes locked at her mother, who currently were trying to spot her daughter. It was hard spotting them from that angle that they were currently standing in.

"I'm Harry by the way." He said, trying to get the girls attention.

She blinked and turned to look at him. When their eyes met, Harry noticed her eyes had an unusually deep hue of brown.

"I'm Ginny." She said. He now noticed her eyes were a little sleepy and red and he guessed she had slept about as well as his uncle Vernon had.

"Well, nice to meet you Ginny." Ginny… it was an unusual name but he thought it had a nice ring to it. But well, now was his chance, but as he was about to ask her he froze. How did you say it? It had seemed like such a brilliant idea when it came to mind but now that it was time to act he felt unsure of how to say it. After a few seconds, she lost interest in him and turned back to watch her mother as she was asking people if they had seen her daughter. '_Well, all or nothing'_, Harry thought.

"Would you like to start a correspondence with me?" he asked. He felt his cheeks heat up as he said it but he managed to keep a straight face as Ginny snapped her focus back to Harry. She looked utterly surprised and to be honest she had right to, Harry thought.

"A correspondence? You mean like exchanging letters once in a while?" she still seemed taken aback, but she had regained most of her composure and was studying him with renewed interest.

"Well, that's kind of the point of a correspondence, isn't it? I could right you once or twice a week so you get something to think of while your brothers are away."

Ginny blushed slightly at how easy Harry had read her thoughts. Her cheeks attained a slight shade of pink, but she quickly covered her cheeks with her sleeve.

"You would do that for me?" she asked silently. It was little more than a whisper and Harry understood she was afraid he would go back on his word or take it back. He had been in that situation as well a few times where he thought people had said something nice to him, only for them to withdraw their words at first offered occasion. Therefore, he tried to put on as a reassuring smile he could when he said:

"I don't see why not? I could use a friend and you could use someone to talk to, right? Win-win situation?" he hoped he didn't sound too clichéd but he didn't have time to worry about it as the Ginny threw herself at him and hugged him.

Harry felt his cheeks heat a little as he patted her on her back. She must have really been burdened by this.

"Thank you." She whispered as she let go of him, blushing furiously at her own reaction. Her face was now almost as red as her hair. Harry decided not to point this out as he thought that would just make her blush even more.

Harry was just about to say "no problem" when he suddenly felt someone's gaze upon him. Apparently Ginny felt it too cause she shrank in size as her eyes were locked on someone who was approaching them. Harry recognized Ginny's mother as she stormed over to them.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Do you have any idea how worried I have been?! I have told you a thousand times to not run off like that on your own!"

Harry wanted to back away from the furious woman as far as he could, but when he saw Ginny tremble as her mother approached them, he mustered up the courage to stand by her side. Mrs Weasley stopped in front of them and stared, from Ginny to Harry and back again.

"Um… sorry mum, I was just… uh… this is Harry." Ginny stammered.

Harry felt his blood freeze as the Weasley matriarch turned her gaze from her daughter over to Harry. For a moment, Harry though she would shout at him to leave her daughter alone, but then her expression softened a bit.

"Nice to meet you, Harry. I hope my daughter hasn't caused you too much trouble?"

Harry shook his head hastily.

"Not at all. She helped me get through the barrier and I just wanted to thank her." He said in one breath and inhaled a large amount of air as he let go of a breath he had not been aware he was holding.

"Um, well I better get my trunk on the train. See you Ginny. It was nice to meet you." He said and quickly made his way over to his trunk and began pulling it over to where the train was.

"Bye Harry!" Ginny shouted after him.

Harry smiled for himself as he heaved the heavy trunk onto the train. That had felt good. He knew he had done a good thing and it felt good doing it. It made him happy somehow knowing that he might have contributed to making Ginny a little happier. She had seemed nice so he didn't doubt she would be a nice friend to him either. It was a hard feeling to describe, but somehow he knew that this interaction, this short conversation, play a vital part in his future. He just didn't know how.

As he found a free compartment, he realized the trunk would be too heavy for him to lift onto the luggage shelf. He took a deep breath and made an attempt though. He pushed his muscles to their limits and he felt the blood rush to his face that was slowly becoming redder from the strain. But the trunk didn't move. He gave up and leaned back against the wall, panting heavily from the attempt. How was he supposed to do this?

"Need a hand, little guy?"

Harry looked up and was met by the face of a red-haired tall boy who seemed to be a little older than Harry. Silently, Harry began to wonder if all wizards were red heads.

"Yes please." He said with relief.

The older boy turned around and waved to someone to give them a hand. Together, the 3 boys managed to get the trunk up onto the luggage rack. Sighing with relief, Harry turned around to thank the other boys when he froze in place. He stared at the other boys who looked back at him curiously.

"What's up, little man?" one of them said.

"T-there's two of you." Harry stammered.

The boys smiled evilly from this.

"Oh, I think we got ourselves a genius here, George."

"Yeah Fred, I never noticed."

Realizing they were just ordinary twins, Harry laughed at his own stupidity to have thought he believed one of them to be a clone of some sort. Just because they were in a magical world, it didn't mean everything out of the ordinary had to have been created with magic. The twins joined in his laugh. As soon as they calmed down, Fred and George gave him a pat on the should each.

"So, who are you little man? Now you know our names, so who are you?" the one to the left asked.

"Just call me Harry." He intentionally left out his last name, hoping to avoid a repeat of the scenery at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Well Harry, if you ever need to prank someone…"

"…and doesn't know the best way to do it…"

"…just call our names…"

"…and your prank victim will wish he had never been born."

The twins grinned. Harry tried to make out the meaning of the sentence, which wasn't the easiest since they had constantly took up each other's ends, but it sounded like they were friendly. At least to the one who let them loose on someone else. He grinned nervously; sincerely hoping someone else would not let them loose on him and ran a hand through his hair. At this, one of the twins, he thought it was George, froze.

"What was that?"

Realizing what he was talking about, Harry cursed himself at his own stupidity once again. he removed the hair from his forehead to show of the scar that George had spotted. Both the twins withdrew sharp breaths before shouting.

"You're not just Harry! You're bloody Harry Potter!"

Harry pressed a finger to his lips to try and silence them. He carefully looked around to see that no one had noticed. Sighing with relief, he turned back to the twins who still looked like they had seen a ghost.

"Please don't go around and shout it. If people find out, I won't be able to have even one second for myself."

The twins grinned evilly at him. Harry felt a cold run down his spine as if he had just gotten an egg cracked on top of his head that was now running down his back.

"Don't worry, ickle Harrikins! Your secret identity is safe with us!" Fred said and grinned sheepishly.

"Now you have to excuse us. We have to get down on the platform or mum will come up here and get us." George said.

And with that, they were gone. Harry sighed, partly with relief and partly with satisfaction, and went inside his compartment, where he sat down by the window. He looked out and saw that the wizarding families had begun saying their goodbyes to their children. He felt a little sting in his chest as he got reminded that he didn't have a family. But thinking about his parents still made him warm inside as well. They had died honorably. They had fought to the end to protect him and the world from Voldemort. He knew he should be proud of their accomplishments. But at a moment like this, it was just hard not to feel sorrow over his loss.

He got snapped back to reality as he recognized a group of redheads just outside his window. The twins had gotten back to their family and were currently teasing their younger brother, who seemed about the same age as Harry, about something. The oldest of the brother looked on with a disapproving look on his face while Ginny seemed delighted at her brother's treatment. Tempted to know what a family of wizards could possibly be talking about, Harry slid open his window slightly so he could hear them. A second later, he wished he hadn't.

"Oh, and by the way mum. That boy that was flirting with Ginny was Harry Potter."

Everyone went silent. Ginny looked pale and if she hadn't stood up straight Harry would have thought she had fainted. The eldest of the brothers was the only one who seemed unaffected by this, probably believing it was one of Fred's and George's jokes. The youngest boy took the opportunity to slip away from his older brothers while their mother seemed shocked at the news.

"That's not something to joke about Fred."

Now knowing who had betrayed him, Harry vowed to let Fred have it once he found a good way to get his revenge.

"It's true. I saw his scar." George pulled aside his own hair in a good imitation of how Harry had done it and pointed at his forehead.

Harry added George to his must-get-revenge-on-list.

"I don't care if it's true or not. The poor boy is not an animal on zoo. Do you even realize what he must have gone through after what happened? I hope you behaved nicely?"

With that Mrs Weasley joined Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid on Harry's list of reliable people. Both twins immediately began reassuring their mother that they had behaved nicer than they had for many years.

"Well, that doesn't exactly say much, does it?" Ginny interrupted while grinning impishly.

All boys turned to look at their little sister. Then the entire group of redheads, except their mother burst out into laughing. Well, the oldest didn't laugh out loud, but at least he allowed his lips to be drawn out into a smile. Harry felt a sting of jealousy at their family bond and quickly shut the window. He wished the train would start moving soon. He had barely had time to think the thought as he heard the train whistle blow, signaling to the children to get on the train. Harry looked out again and saw that the Weasley boys had left their mother and sister and boarded the train. As he looked out over the platform, the door to his compartment opened.

"Is it ok if I sit here? It's occupied everywhere else." It was Ginny's youngest brother. Harry, who had never really had any friends, smiled.

"Sure." He said and pointed at the seat opposite to himself.

The boy threw his backpack on one of the unoccupied seats and sat down at the seat he had been appointed. Harry turned to smile at him, but was met by a suspicious look.

"What did you want with my sister?" he asked cautiously. Harry was taken aback by the question and didn't answer immediately. It wasn't like he had any bad intentions about Ginny, but he was taken aback by the fact that people thought he had. Realizing that the boy waited for an answer, he quickly said as it was.

"I just thanked her for helping me get through the barrier, that's all."

Ginny's brother didn't seem satisfied with this.

"Fred and George said you two were talking for ages. It doesn't take ages to say thank you does it?"

Harry was starting to get annoyed by this boy's attitude and suspiciousness. Taking a calming breath, that hardly had any effect, he answered with a cold voice.

"Ok, I tried to comfort her. She felt lonely as you and your brothers were about to leave her and you were too busy with yourselves that you failed to notice. You satisfied with that answer?"

Harry hadn't meant to shout, but his outburst couldn't be taken for anything but shouting. He realized he had been standing up and quickly sank down to his seat again, but didn't excuse himself for his actions. The boy seemed just as shocked as Harry felt, though it was for different reasons judging by his reaction.

"You mean to say Ginny actually felt bad for me leaving? But she always tells me to butt off and leave her alone!"

Harry took in a deep breath and let go of it again before he deemed himself calm enough to answer.

"Maybe you was being a little too straight forward at times? Did she always tell you to butt off? Every time you played?"

The red-haired boy seemed to finally understand as an expression of realization struck his face, quickly followed by guilt.

"Well… I guess we did have a lot of fun some times." He said while letting his head sink.

Harry felt the train began to move and he quickly looked out the window. The two redheads remaining on the platform were waving to them. Harry looked back at Ginny's brother and then to Ginny who walked by the train, half laughing, half crying.

"Uh, maybe you could make up for it a little by giving her a proper goodbye?" he said.

The other boy seemed to realize they were moving away from the station and he threw himself at the window. His sister smiled at him bleakly and seeing her now he realized how right Harry had been. She did look like she missed him already. Cursing his own selfishness and stupidity, he opened the window and shouted a "goodbye Ginny" best he could out through the small opening. Behind him, Harry waved to his newfound and first friend and smiled at her. Ginny smiled back and that smile stayed on her face all the way until the train turned around the corner and was gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Yippie! The two lover meet! Anyway, how was that? I hope i didnt make it sound too much like Harry could read her thoughts but think about it. When you have been through constant loneliness yourself, you recognise when someone feels lonely. Ive been through that myself...

But thats not important! I hope you liked the chapter and i hope you leave a review! Btw, by my calculations it seems Harry will be put in Gryffindor. I had some ideas for what could happen if i put him in Slytherin but then i realized a lot of the other stuff i had planned would be ruined because of his house.


	4. Book One Chapter 4: Happenings on the

**A/N: Hey! Im really really really like really Sorry this took so damn long! We got an overload of school work and i never had time to upload it... But i finished it at last and i'm already half-way through Chapter 5. This is where things are really starting to change from the original timeline. You might also notice a difference in Harry's behaviour from the more impulsive Harry in J.K Rowlings works. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter franchise!**

* * *

_Chapter 4: Happenings on the train_

Harry leaned back and made himself comfortable in the seat. He was finally on his way. He was on his way away from Private Drive 4, away from the beatings, away from the Dursleys. It felt almost unreal that he was actually getting away. After all these years, he would finally be able to be himself. He would be allowed to make his own decisions. It felt a little scary to be going into something so unknown to him, but at the same time it felt good. It couldn't be any worse than Private Drive after all. The boy, who sat opposite to him however, did not seem to be as nervous as Harry. He yawned lazily and began picking with stuff in his backpack.

"Do you think Ginny will be mad at me when I come home?"

Harry thought about it for a minute. He did not know how ignorant Ginny's brother had of her but from what he had seen of Ginny he doubted it would matter. She would probably be a little sulky at first but she didn't seem like one to hold a grudge.

"I don't think she will be too nasty on you. Just watch out for the mercenaries."

His compartment friend looked up from his stuff with a look that reminded Harry of Dudley when the later had dropped his candy, a look of utmost shock.

"What mercenaries?" he said it as if he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Well the twins of course. They said they would be happy to prank anybody who they could find a reason to prank."

Harry had to keep himself from laughing when he saw the look on the boy's face. However, the redhead quickly regained his composure.

"Oh, so you've already met Fred and George? I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry Potter." Harry said without thinking. He had been so happy they had changed subject that he forgot that his name was a taboo if he did not want to be the center of attention. And not a second passed before Ron's eyes widened.

"So it was true then? I thought it was just one of Fred's and George's jokes!"

Harry sighed and began thinking that maybe it wasn't all glory and fun to be famous. Right then, he had a very hard time remembering why he had dreamt of playing professional soccer.

"I would appreciate it if you could keep it down. I don't want people running around and constantly asking to see this." He brushed his hair aside to show off his scar. Ron eyed it for a second and then just nodded.

"No problem. My lips are sealed."

After that they both fell silent for a bit. Ron went back to go through his stuff and picked out a lot of stuff Harry did not want to know why he had, including a living rat. Harry leaned back into the seat and looked out the window. The sights were changing and instead of the city of London there were now trees racing by outside. He wanted to start up a conversation but he didn't know what to talk about. He had never had any friends to talk to and on top of that he had not been a wizard for more than about one month. Come to think of it, he did not know anything about the wizarding world other than what he had read in his school books and to be honest, the history of the great purge and stories about famous wizard weren't nearly as intriguing as the thought of how an overall wizards life was like.

"So how are things in the wizarding world?" Ron looked up from what looked like a chess board with questioning eyes. "You see, I grew up with muggles and I didn't even know this world even existed until about one month ago." He explained.

He got the impression that Ron was a slow thinker, because it seemed to take forever for him to take in what Harry had just said. However when he did, a grin spread across his face.

"Well, shoot. Ask whatever you want to know and I'll answer. I've grown up with five wizard brother so I have seen most of what there is to see."

Harry had a hard time believing that Ron had actually seen "most of what there is to see", but he decided not to mention it in fear of breaking the light mood in the compartment that had replaced the rather uncomfortable silence. So Harry began asking question, first about his brothers and then about what life was like in a wizard household. Ron told him that the oldest brother Bill was working for Gringotts in Egypt and the next oldest, Charlie, had gone to Romania to study drakes. Those two had already left the school. The third oldest, whom Harry had seen on the platform before taking off, was Percy. Ron complained about his brother's strict attitude and said that making him prefect had been the worst choice in Hogwarts history, as it had only made him "even worse". Next in line came the twins, Fred and George. They were two years older than Ron and Harry and were already known as the worst troublemakers at Hogwarts for generations.

"Mum says they are going to end up criminals if nobody can get them to stop. As if someone would even dare to try." He said with a smile.

Harry noticed that Ron seemed to enjoy the attention he was receiving and kept on asking questions. He already knew Ginny was one year younger than the two of them but didn't mention that when Ron went on about how irritating his sister could be when she wanted to. Harry decided not to point out that just half an hour ago he had been pleading for Ginny to not be mad at him when he came home. As the scenery outside the window changed from a forest of trees to a landscape of open fields, they were interrupted by the lunch cart. After Ron mumbled something about having sandwiches, Harry picked out a handful of gold to buy his first ever own sweets. After checking the cart and realizing they did not have any chocolate bars, he instead picked out a little from here and there to try out. Ron immediately forgot about his sandwiches when Harry told him to dig in and sure enough he did. As Ron told Harry about the different magical sweets, the door to the compartment opened and a round faced boy around their age stepped inside. He was nervously pushing his fingertips together as he seemed to try and muster up the courage to speak.

"U-hm… I don't suppose you have seen a toad around here somewhere?"

Ron looked up from reading the lines on a chocolate frog card and tried to answer while still having his mouth stuffed with the frog. Harry rolled his eyes at this and sincerely hoped that not all wizards had such bad table manners. In his eagerness to answer the question, Ron choked on the chocolate frog and began making sounds that reminded Harry of when his uncle's sister Marge's dog had gotten a stick stuck in its throat after trying to tear it apart, believing it to be Harry's leg. He sighed and went over to Ron and began to pat him on the back to try and force the frog back up. The new boy seemed terrified by the damage he had inflicted simply by asking them a question. When Ron had finally coughed up the half-eaten chocolate frog, Harry turned to the new boy.

"I' sorry but we haven't seen your toad. We will be sure to notify you if we see it. What's your name by the way?"

"N-Neville Longbottom." The boy stammered before quickly bursting out of the compartment. Ron, who was just regaining his breath after a series of coughs and had tears in his eyes from his aching throat, sat up and drew in a long, shaky breath.

"That boy got some serious confidence problems." He said with a hoarse voice. He had barely finished his sentence before the door flung open again and a girl with bushy brown hair stood in the doorway.

"Have you seen a toad around here? A boy named Neville has lost his." She said.

Ron glared at her and shook his head. Harry explained to the girl that they hadn't seen the toad and that Neville had already asked them about it. She didn't seem to upset about it and just turned around to leave when the door opened for the third time in 5 minutes. In the doorway stood three boys, two of which looked more like a pair of naked gorillas than boy. They flanked a blonde boy who seemed to be around their age as well. The boy studied the three people already in the compartment, each at a time, and finally stopped at Harry. Harry returned the gaze and locked eyes with the newcomer, whom had gained an evil grin on his face.

"Rumor has it that the famous Harry Potter is sitting in this compartment. I take it that's you?"

Harry tried to measure the boy's intention, something he had learned to do after living with the Dursleys as it was necessary to know when to run if you wanted to survive in their house. However, this boy's eyes and face were too dim to read. Harry felt a little at unease with the situation, but he nodded in confirmation. The girl, who had turned around at the mention of the name, gaped. Suddenly, she seemed a lot more interested in him than she had been a minute ago.

"I am Hermione Granger. I've read about you in _The rise and fall of the dark arts_ and _Modern Magical History_ and…"

"It seems you have already begun gathering a group of fans, Potter." The blonde boy interrupted. He took a step forward and pushed Hermione onto one of the free seats. The girl turned around and gave him a glare that would have melted its way straight through anyone's brain, should it have been possible. However, the blonde boy was already talking to Harry again and didn't seem to care.

"You will soon notice that some wizard families are better than others, Potter. Some doesn't have to crawl by the feet of someone famous to try and make up for their already pitiful reputation." He glared sideways on Ron as he said that and then turned back to Harry. "Take me for example. I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. Our family has been one of utter nobility since times began. I can be your friend on equal terms."

As he finished his little speech, he held out his hand to Harry to shake. Harry stared suspiciously at the hand and then shifted his glace to Ron, who looked like he was about to blow but fortunately held onto that rage to see what Harry would do. Harry felt Hermione's glance on his back and turned back to the hand that was still reaching out to him. He thought of the girl he had met on the station, Ginny. What would she do?

"Thank you, but for now I think I will have to hold off in your case." Harry finally answered the boy. Ron's expression changed from one of held back rage to one of pleased mocking as he turned and grinned towards Malfoy.

Malfoy on the other hand, did not look displeased at all at being turned down. He just shrugged and turned to leave. When he opened the door, he turned his head around to look Harry in the eye.

"Don't come running back to me when they corrupt your thoughts and cloud your mind with their second class wizadry." And with that he was gone.

Hermione stared at the door and then her gaze wondered over to Harry, then to Ron who was grinning widely and then back again. a silence fell over the three. Harry used this opportunity to open another chocolate frog and this time he was ready for it. Before it had the time to jump, he grabbed it and bit off its head. Still driven by the transfiguration charm that made it "live", the frog body in his hand kept on floundering. As if the frog had reminded her of why she had come there in the first place, Hermione stood up and said:

"I better go find Neville's toad. And you two should start thinking about changing into your school robes before we arrive." And with that, she too disappeared through the still open doorway and closed it behind her. Ron couldn't hold himself any longer. He burst out laughing and rolled over on his seat. Harry looked over at his friend and frowned. Seeing his friends look, Ron tried to regain enough composure to explain him.

"It's just that… the Malfoys are known to think of themselves as if they were some kind of royalty. And you just spit Draco straight in the face."

Harry didn't quite get what was so funny, so he just allowed his friend to have his time laughing it out. He instead turned back to the chocolate frog pack he held in his hand and picked out the card. He was met by a silhouette whose face he couldn't see. He frowned. He had gotten a card of Dumbledore the last time he had opened a pack but he had been able to see his face back then. He turned the card around to see who it was he had gotten.

_Merlin  
The legendary wizard said to have been the strongest of all times, and the last practitioner of the old religion. He is said to have founded the country of Albion along with King Arthur and set the stakes for the modern magical society._

Harry read the card a few times. He had heard the name Merlin spoken a few times, even in muggle society. He was legendary even among the non-magical people but they thought he was merely some fantasy figure in a bed time story. Ron, who had become curious by the confused looked on Harry's face, leaned over to take a look at the card he had gotten.

"Bad luck mate. I got a load of that card and they are all like that. I think there was some trouble making them. That's why there isn't any picture of the dude." He said.

"Or maybe, cameras just didn't exist back when Merlin was still alive?" Harry asked skeptically. Ron however, looked like a Harry had just shed light on one of life's big mysteries. Laughing at his friend's expression, Harry put the card in his pocket along with Dumbledore's and leaned back again. His gaze went to the door and he began wondering about what had occurred earlier. Draco had claimed that some wizards were better than others. Well, of course some were probably stronger and more skilled than some of their peers; otherwise it would be stupid to have a school to teach them at. But Harry had a feeling that Draco had meant something else. He was tempted to ask Ron about it, but then he remembered the shadow that had ran over his friend's face at the mention of the name Malfoy so he decided against it. However, his friend's obvious dislike for their new acquaintance gave Harry an idea and with a mischievous smirk he leaned over to Ron.

"What do you say we go check up on the mercenaries?" he asked.

* * *

About 20 minutes later, Harry found himself sneaking through the train and peeking inside every other compartment while searching for their prey. Ron and the twins were currently readying their stuff for the prank the twins had cooked up for them. Harry had been tasked with locating Malfoy and his goons. He strode through carriage after carriage, trying to ignore the glances people cast after him. In a compartment in the other end of the train, he found his targets. Malfoy was sitting by the window, silently staring out the window while his two companions were sitting opposite to him, looking at their leader, then at each other, and then back again. There was also a fourth boy there that Harry didn't recognize. He felt his lips being drawn out into an evil smirk as he thought of how these four boys would bide the rest of their time during their travel to Hogwarts. Having achieved his objective, he returned to their base of operations; Fred's and George's compartment. Ron was waiting for him, as was the twins and their best friend Lee Jordan. The four of them had loaded their pockets with something that reminded Harry of mud balls.

"We were beginning to think you had been caught in the act Harry. Grab some dung bombs and we will spring to action!" Fred said and left the compartment along with his twin brother. Lee followed his friends out while Ron handed Harry load of the not so yummy-looking balls. As the five of them made their way over to the compartment Harry had pinpointed however, they ran into the third eldest Weasley brother, Percy.

"And just what do you think you are doing?" he said with a resigned voice.

Fred, who was leading the group, shrugged at his brother.

"We were going for a breath of air. It gets hot sitting five persons in a compartment, you know."

Harry could see that Percy was searching for any possible motive to send at least Fred and George back to the compartment, but as he found none, just nodded in response before leaning forward and whispering to Fred in a strict voice.

"If I find any piece of proof on the next place of chaos on this train that can lead back to you, you're in for it. Do you understand?" He almost spit the last sentence and something told Harry that Ron hadn't been lying when he said that Percy was different from the rest of the family.

Fred just shrugged again at Percy's strict answer and the group began to move again. Harry passed Percy, he could have sworn that the older boy frowned at him but he ignored it and pushed onward. When they reached Malfoy's compartment, Fred made a point that they must not be spotted by its inhibitors. If they were, then they really would be "in for it" as Percy so nicely had described it. Taking up their positions, with Ron and Harry on the left side of the door and Fred and George on the other and Lee taking a position slightly to the right to have a good angle for spell-casting, they jumped to action. As Fred gave the signal, George pulled open the door and emptied his entire load of dung bombs inside. Harry, Fred and Ron followed suit before anyone in the compartment to comprehend what was happening. As soon as they were finished, Fred slammed the door shut and Lee pointed with his wand at the lock.

"_Colloportus!" _he exclaimed, which was quickly followed by a "_Glacius_".

The lock to the compartment clicked and was quickly covered with ice a second later. Lee kept up his freezing spell an extra second to make sure Malfoy would not escape. The dung bombs inside had already went off and covered the entire compartment with a cloud of greenish smoke. Cough could be heard from inside and then someone tried to open the door. A panicked shriek echoed throughout the train when the person, whoever it was, realized that they couldn't open the door. The pranksters bent over in laughter and Harry had a hard time standing straight. When they heard rushing footsteps coming their way, Harry was quick to take to the escape and Ron and the others weren't far behind. Before closing the door to the next carriage, Harry caught a glimpse of Percy who had rushed to the frozen locked door and from the looks of it, he groaned as he threw his fist on the lock. It couldn't have been more obvious that he had a pretty vague idea of who was to be held responsible for this.

As soon as the boy criminals got inside their own compartment, all five of them bent over in laughter. Ron fell onto one of the seats and had a hard time controlling himself. Fred and George grinned, if it was at the thought of Malfoy imprisoned in a room full of dung bombs or the behavior of their "ickle Ronniekins", Harry couldn't determine. Lee had fallen to a seat and was holding his side to try and ease the cramp he got from laughing.

"That was genial Fred!" Ron exclaimed.

"I couldn't turn down an opportunity to prank a Malfoy. Not after all the crap dad's been hauling over Lucius Malfoy when he thinks we aren't listening at home." The twin that was leaning towards the window answered while still grinning at his younger brother.

Harry sat down at one of the seats and tried to calm his heartbeats. He had never laughing that much in his entire life, which of course didn't say much as he had grown up with the Dursleys but that wasn't the point. The point was that he felt that he finally had friends. It felt odd. For all his life, he had wondered what it would be like to have even one person caring for him and now he had 6 people already. Somehow he knew that this train ride would be very long.

* * *

As soon as they exited the stove after flooing home, the small girl darted across the room and went upstairs to her bedroom. Her mother looked worriedly after her. She knew that her daughter felt left behind by her brothers. Up until this point, she had always had Ron. The two of them had argued a few times, but they always made it up to each other afterwards. But now even he was gone and she was all alone. Hesitant to what to do, she took a step towards the stairs to follow Ginny. The girl needed to be cheered up by something, but she wasn't sure what she could do. The steps creaked when she silently made her way up to her daughter's room. And just as she had feared, quiet sobs could be heard from inside the room.

"…all alone… (sob)… wish he was h-h-here…"

It burned Molly Weasley's heart to listen to Ginny'c cries. She wished she could do something about it, but for once in her life she didn't know what to do. She had remembered how left behind she had felt when her brother Fabian had left for school and she was the only one left at home. Perhaps Ginny would feel better being left alone. Molly could still recall the feelings of frustration she had felt when her mother had tried to comfort her but failed miserably. She hadn't spoken to her in weeks after the confrontation and Molly didn't want Ginny to isolate herself that same way. Though pained about her decision, she left the third floor and went back down to the kitchen, hoping to find something to take her thoughts of her daughter's sobs.

Inside her room, Ginny Weasley laid on her bed with her face buried in her pillow. The fluffy object had become wet from her silent tears as she had laid there for quite some time now. She didn't know exactly how long, but the sun had begun setting outside her window, which meant she had been lying here for at least 4 hours. She had lost track of time around half-way. Her tears were beginning to dry out in her face and she felt exhausted. Suddenly, she heard a growling noise and sat up, wide awake. She hadn't realized until then that she had missed lunch and she felt terribly hungry. She crawled out of bed and sat up. She felt empty. Not only literally. There was something missing. The dreadful thought of walking down the stairs and find the table uninhabited made her stomach clench. Ron would not be around for a year. And both her parents would be busy.

Trying not to sink too deep into her loneliness, the red haired girl crawled out of bed and slowly made her way down to the kitchen. It was as empty as her chest felt. She went over to the pantry and retrieved some bread and made herself a sandwich, all the while doing her best not to notice the silent emptiness around her. But when she sat by the table, it once again hit her that there was no one in the house. She was here alone. She bit her lip to keep herself start sobbing again. She was done with that. She couldn't keep dwelling in her sadness, she thought to herself. She had to cheer herself up. What would Fred and George do in this situation?

"_You know that boy who was flirting with Ginny earlier..."_ her brother's voice came floating through her mind.

Ginny remembered the boy she had met at the station. He had said he would write to her. Why would he do that? He barely knew her!  
But something about him made her think that he wasn't lying to her just then. Maybe it was his eyes. He had had very distinctive, green eyes that showed nothing but sincerity when he spoke to her. He had seemed to be honest when she asked if he really would do that for her. What was his name again?

"…_that was Harry Potter!"_ Fred's voice came floating to her again.

As she finally took in what her brother had said, she felt herself gasp for air. It couldn't be, could it? That tawny boy was the famous wizard who had killed He-who-must-not-be-named and saved the entire world? No, how could someone only one year older than herself have defeated the strongest dark wizard of all times? But it made sense. Now that she thought of it, he had said that his name was Harry. She desperately tried to remember what more her older brothers had said about her new acquaintance.

"_I asked him. He showed me his scar."_

Yes, the famous scar. She had read about it in a book she had stolen from Ron's room when she was eight. According to the book, the famous Harry Potter had received a magical cut in his forehead after his meeting with the Dark Lord. If Fred and George weren't making it all up, Ginny had to admit that all evidence pointed to that the boy she had recently became friends with was one of the most famous wizards in the world and certainly in Britain.

Ginny had now finished her sandwich and was heading back to her room, being in a noticeable better mood than when she left. As she entered the room, she cast a longing glance at her desktop and wondered if she could write Harry and ask the many questions that were forming in her head. But then she remembered that he had said that he was going to write her himself. Maybe he would feel offended if she just wrote and began asking questions. Maybe he would believe she didn't trust him. After an inner battle between her childish curiosity and her somewhat more mature side, Ginny decided to wait for Harry to send his letter before she jumped to conclusions and began asking questions. With her new resolve in mind, she climbed into bed and lifted a book off her bedside table. This was undoubtedly going to be an interesting summer.

* * *

Severus Snape quickly walked down the stairs towards the dungeons where his office laid. He wasn't feeling like spending more time with his colleagues than he had to at the moment. He had been calmly revising about the old days when Minerva McGonagall had called him up for a staff meeting. Begrudgingly, he had left the soft loneliness of the dungeons and walked up to the staff room to find that the entire staff crew, even Dumbledore himself, were involved in a light discussion about the boy that had occupied Snape's own thoughts: Harry Potter.

As Severus turned around a corner and opened the door to his office, he immediately spotted the two parchments that were lying on his desktop. He sighed and walked up to his desktop and shot them a glance. He had read them over and over the latest 3 hours, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he pondered how things could go from here on. Severus used to think he was very good at reading situations and determine how things would turn out, but he had to admit that this case had defeated him. One of the parchments was a detention report about James Potter from their third year. Harry's father had gotten a week's detention for transfiguring McGonagall's witch hat into a big banana. He smiled viciously when he thought of his old arch enemy, scrubbing the floor of the great hall without magic.

The other parchment was an old, torn letter he had received from Lily Evans before their second year started. It was one of the last letters in which she seemed to truly regard them as best friends. After that, they had begun gliding apart. They had remained friends all up to their fifth year, but Severus had noticed that Lily had been more distant to him after their second year. The thought of how recklessly he had thrown away their friendship made Severus want to puke, but he managed withhold himself. His concern this evening had been whether Harry would take after his father, the prankster, or his mother, the prefect. From what he had heard on the meeting though, it seemed Harry had already beaten his father's record of breaking the rules during the first day at Hogwarts; he had broken the rules before he even got to Hogwarts!

Snape groaned as he thought about it. After his first meeting with the boy, he had thought the boy was more similar to his mother. He had been much less impulsive than James and had a much bigger interest in everything they came across, much more resembling his mother. But now things had turned around and Snape's initial impression was that the boy was his father in miniature. He sighed and sat down in his chair. This was too much to comprehend. His impressions were far too wide away from one another to even possibly fit in the same person. As he leaned back and felt tiredness take him over, Severus mumbled something that sounded like "_This is going to be a very long year."_

* * *

**A/N: So, after almost 2 weeks you have finally gotten another chapter to read. Once again i apologize for the delay. If you want faster updates you will have to speak to my headmaster. Oh, and i can say that next chapter will feature some stuff that will be VERY interesting and different from the original timeline. It will also be like really descisive for the entire story dammit! :))**

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	5. Book One Chapter 5: A voice in the Night

**A/N: Heyhey! Was having a day off from school (bless from the heavens) so i decided to wrap things up a bit and finish this chapter. As i said, this chap will contain some wicked stuff that i bet most of you will find both interesting, confusing and weird at the same time, so dont try and get away from reviewing! I want to know what all of you think about it! You will understand ;)**

**Now, to answer a question i got from Glittering Moonlight. She wondered why Ginny didnt recognise Harry when they met at the station. Well for starters she had never seen him before. The only exstinguishing feature about him that the world actually know of is the famous scar he was given by Lord Voldemort. And since his hair covered it, he didnt give the impression of being anything but a normal boy. Also, she didnt recognise him in the original storyline either before Fred told the Weasleys who he was.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter franchise!**

* * *

_Chapter Five: A voice in the night_

When they reached the final station in Hogsmeade, Harry had already had more fun in the last few hours than he had in his entire life before. After locking Malfoy in a compartment that was stinking worse than a trash pile of skunks, Harry had been playing Exploding snaps with the twins and Ron, listened to the Weasleys talk about quiditch, the most spectacular wizard sport in the world, and opened at least 10 chocolate frog packs and gotten a small collection of the cards, including another card of Professor Dumbledore. About ten minutes before they had arrived, Fred, George and Lee had returned to their own compartment to change into their school robes, so Harry and Ron resolved to do the same.

Harry felt his heart beating at a rapid pace when they felt the train loose speed and when it had completely stopped, Harry was on the verge of fainting. They had arrived. He was finally here. He knew nothing of the place he had come to, but he knew he was finally home. He could feel it, it was overwhelming.

"Hey, are you going to sit there until the train is back in London Harry? Let's get off already!" Ron said from the doorway.

Harry slowly rose to his feet. He took a deep breath and then took off after his friend and exited the train. Jumping onto the platform, Harry heard a hoarse yet familiar voice shout over the crowd of students. As they walked towards the voice, Harry spotted a familiar, large silhouette.

"Hey Hagrid!" he shouted to the large man.

"Everything a'right withya Harry?" Hargid shouted back.

Harry made thumbs up to his friend when he came into view. After the first years had gathered around Hagrid, a few of them seemed terrified to get to close, the keykeeper led them down to the lake where a few boats were laying, waiting for them. Hagrid occupied an entire boat for himself, but Harry and Ron shared their boat with Neville and a boy who introduced himself as Seamus Finnigan before they left the shore. As the Hogwarts castle came into view, not a single one of them uttered a word. Harry felt his jaw drop at the magnificent sight. It was simply astounding. Towering over the lake, the lights in each window cast its reflection on the blank water mirror. Harry found that he had a hard time breathing until Ron silently gave him a push to snap him out of his trance-like state.

After crossing the lake, they made their way into an underground cave, from which Hagrid led them into the castle. Harry stared in awe as they passed corridor after corridor filled with things he could and couldn't imagine would have existed should he not have seen it with his own eyes. He didn't even notice when they stopped in front of a large door until Ron once again pushed him in the side. He forced his gaze away from the painting he had been studying and turned it forward to notice a strict looking witch with a typical witch hat and very characteristic glasses standing before them. She introduced herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall and then told them to wait here while she went to fix some things before they entered the great hall. Now that they were standing still, Harry had some time to look at his soon-to-be classmates. He easily spotted Malfoy and his companions as the rest of the first years tried to stand at least three feet away from them. He smiled for himself and grinned at Ron, who grinned back at him. Seamus and Neville, who stood just a few feet away from Harry and Ron, frowned at first, but then realization dawned at Seamus face and he whispered something to Neville. Harry felt his cheeks heat up as Neville and Seamus grinned at each other and gave him and Ron thumbs up. He didn't have time to return the gesture though, as Professor McGonagall was back and said that everything was ready.

When they entered the great hall, Harry found his eyes darting all around the room; from the four big tables that were placed in the middle of the room, to the ceiling that somehow showed the sky outside the castle. Harry overheard Hermione say to another girl:

"The ceiling is hexed to show the sky outside the castle. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_."

Well, to Harry it was quite obvious it was hexed. Had Hermione really needed to read it in a book to realize that?  
They made it up to the staff table where McGonagall explained about the sorting ceremony and how they were supposed to simply place the hat on their heads. Ron leaned over to Harry and hissed:

"I'm going to kill Fred! He told me we were supposed to brawl with a troll!"

Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table where the twins shot Ron mischievous grins and thus confirmed that they had completely fooled their little brother into thinking that he was going up against a troll. Then began the sorting ceremony. Professor McGonagall opened it by calling up:

"Anthony Goldstein!"

The boy whose name had been mentioned stumbled up to the small chair that was waiting for him. He looked like he was about to faint. When he sank down onto the chair, McGonagall placed the hat on his head and then stepped back. After a few seconds, the hat somehow shouted "Ravenclaw!" and Professor McGonagall stepped forward again and removed the hat. The great hall erupted into applauds as Anthony stood up and hurried over to the table that was decorated with blue and bronze. Harry didn't hear the next name called up, but a small blonde girl strode forward and got sorted into Ravenclaw as well. It kept on without any interesting event until…

"Draco Malfoy!"

Harry felt a very unappealing smell and covered his nose when Malfoy strode forward and sat on the chair. Harry thought he saw Professor McGonagall wrinkle her nose when she was placing the hat on his head but she didn't have to stand it smell for too long, because as soon as the hat touched Malfoy's head, it shouted:

"Slytherin!"

Harry saw the green and silvery table erupts into a storm of applauds while the rest of the hall remained silent. Only a few here and there clapped and Harry could easily make out that not a single Gryffindor even attempted to seem neutral. After that, Gregory Goyle was sorted into Slytherin house as well and quickly joined his leader by the green and silvery table. The next name that caught Harry's attention was…

"Harry Potter!"

As soon as his name had been shouted, the entire hall was engulfed in whispers and Harry felt everyone's gaze immediately shift to him when he moved up to the chair. They were whispering about Harry Potter, _that_ Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He bit his lip and tried to ignore the whispers, but when he sat on the chair and looked out over the entire student body, he felt like all energy had left his body. He wasn't used to people staring at him and he was even less used to being placed for everyone to look at him. The Dursleys had always done everything in their power to ensure no one would see him when they were out.

"_Hm… well this is interesting._" A voice whispered in his ear. Harry was about to look over his back to see who had been addressing him, but then he realized it was the sorting hat who talked to him mentally.

"_I can see you are talented indeed, enough to outmatch the most brilliant of Ravenclaws. I see loyalty, ah yes, loyalty unlike few others, and a will to prove your worth. So where should we place you?"_

Harry didn't know what to think. He wished for dear life that the rest of the students couldn't hear what the hat was saying, but calmed down a little when he remembered that he couldn't hear it when the hat spoke to the others so the shouldn't be able to hear what it said to him.

"_And what's this? Ah, of course. You really are your father's son after all. And if so, then it's best you will be put in GRYFFINDOR!"_

The hat shouted the last word and the hall erupted into applauds once again. People were whistling and Harry felt a jolt of joy as he dropped the hat and ran over to the Gryffindor table to join the Weasley twins who had stood up and were shout: "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down between Percy and Lee. Lee gave him a friendly push in the back and Percy formally shook his hand. He looked back up at the first year students who still hadn't gotten sorted. Ron gave him thumbs up and Harry grinned back at him. He then turned towards the honorable table and caught the eyes of Severus Snape. The potions professor's eyes held a look of distance in them and he seemed to Judge Harry, like he had that time in Harry's room. Harry sighed and leaned back again. His gaze shifted to the man who sat in the headmaster's chair. Professor Albus Dumbledore looked just like on his chocolate frog card. Long white hair, a silvery white beard that reached down over his stomach and he could barely make out the crescent moon shaped glasses that rested on his nose. Harry thought he saw the man wink at him before he turned back his attention to the sorting ceremony, but he must have imagined it.

* * *

Harry was lying in his bed. His head rested comfortably against a giant sized pillow. This had been the best day of his life. He smiled as he recalled all the events from the day; meeting that girl Ginny at the station, making friends with the Weasleys, pranking Malfoy and the journey with the Hogwarts Express. He remembered arriving at the castle and the sorting ceremony. He had been placed in Gryffindor along with Ron, Neville, Seamus and a boy named Dean Thomas. They were accompanied by three girls, out of which one was Hermione Granger (to Ron's horror). As he thought about the banquet that had magically appeared at Dumbledore's command, Harry felt how his eyes were slowly closing and he drifted off.

When Harry opened his eyes, he was in complete darkness. He tried turning around, but there was nothing there as well. He tried to move his body, but it felt like he was levitating in thin air. He blinked and tried to get out of this stupid dream. And that's when he heard it.

"_Harry…"_

It was a slight hiss, almost like a snake. It gave Harry Goosebumps all over his body and he began to sweat. He didn't like where this dream was heading. As he though it couldn't be worse, stuck in endless darkness with a ghostly voice, he found himself standing in what looked like a small cave. The cave leaned out into many small alleyways, forming an enormous labyrinth. And then he heard it again.

"_Harry… Potter…"_

Harry swirled around to the direction from where the voice had come. It came from an opening a little to hos right. He felt his heart beat at a rapid pace. Whatever was down there, it wasn't friendly. He could feel it's ruthlessness all the way up here. He narrowed his eyes when he heard what sounded like a snake hiss.

"Who are you?" he called and somehow managed to keep his voice from trembling. His heart was beating in his throat now, but he took a step toward the opening, through which the sounds came. And then he heard the voice a third time.

"_Come… Come here, Harry…"_

In that moment, Harry could think of a whole lot of places he'd rather go than down to a voice that gave off a so strong dark aura, but he found himself moving towards the opening anyway. It wasn't that he wanted to go, but he felt a strong connection to whatever was down there. It was as if something had grabbed him and pulled him into the hole and down the small passageway. After walking for a few straight minutes, Harry found himself standing in a larger cave. He gasped as he saw jail bars going down from the ceiling, completely shutting him off from the other side off the cave. And a second later, he didn't find the nerve to complain. Glowing in the darkness on the other side of the bars, a pair of giant red eyes was watching him. He unconsciously took a step backwards. And then there was the voice again.

"_Hehe, I see even the great boy who lived tremble with fear before me. Harry Potter."_

The voice made Harry's blood run cold and he would have sworn that every hair on his body now stood straight up. Somehow, he knew that voice.

"V-Voldemort."

A high, cold laughter echoed through the cave. Harry stumbled backwards and fell on his ass. He looked up at the eyes that were practically bigger than he himself was. The red, piercing glare felt like if gazes could kill, Harry would have been dead.

"_Yes… and no. I am no longer the man once feared as Lord Voldemort. I am but a shattered piece of him, left behind and imprisoned when the curse rebound."_

Harry, hoping that the bars between them would protect him, rose to his feet. But he didn't take his eyes of Voldemort.

"What… What do you mean?"

Voldemort's soulpiece chuckled slightly, but despite that he bent all his willpower to run back up the way he had come, Harry couldn't move. Voldemort eyed him for a bit before answering.

"_When I, as Voldemort, tried to kill you all those years ago, my spell backfired and it sliced off a part of my soul, which somehow got locked up inside your body._"

Harry stared up at the glowing eyes in disbelief. This had to be one of the weirdest yet most frightful dreams he had ever had. Voldemort eyed him warily, as if to judge him. After being judged by both Snape and Dumbledore, Harry had begun to grow tired of that look.

"Then if you are supposed to be locked inside me, then how did you get out here?" Harry asked skeptically.

Voldemort's soupiece chuckled again, though this time it held a slight tint of amusement behind the cold sound.

"_Foolish boy. We aren't out anywhere. When you went to sleep, you unconsciously slipped into your subconscious mindscape, in which I am imprisoned."_

Harry, who had now almost conviced himself that if Voldemort had planned to harm him in any way, he would have done so by now, narrowed his eyes. He tried to comprehend what he had just been told. A piece of Voldemort's soul? Attached to his mindscape?

"How come you never showed up any time before?" Harry wanted to know. If this Voldemort-wannabe had been attached to him ever since that night when the Dark Lord had killed Harry's parents, his back shivered at the mere thought of it, why hadn't he gotten bugged by him earlier?

"_I wasn't strong enough. You were treated so poorly by those disgusting muggles that I was barely conscious at all. I don't know how it works, but it seems you have become the source of my life force. If you are hurt, I am hurt."_

Hearing this, Harry took a step forward. The floating eyes narrowed as Voldemort eyed him closely. Harry returned the glare as he tried to etch this into his memory. Then he got to think of something that made his heart ease up a little.

"Then you can't kill me, because if I die, you die." He said. Voldemort growled.

"_Believe me, if I could have killed you, I would have done that the moment you walked into this part of your mindscape." _

Harry felt his heart stop when he realized just how reckless he had acted. Following a bodiless voice that practically sang curses was the act of a person with death wishes. He looked up at his unwanted inhibitor and then turned around. But before he could leave, he was swallowed by the darkness again.

As Harry came too again, he flew up into a sitting position in his bed. He was panting heavily. For a moment, he wondered where he was, but then he remembered that he was at Hogwarts, not in his bedroom at Private Drive. He felt his heart beat hard in his chest. That had been an awful dream. A piece of Voldemort's soul? Inside his own body? Good grief, Hagrid must have told him one time too many that he didn't believe that Voldemort was dead. When he had calmed himself down by trying to think of the day before him, his first in the wizarding world, he checked the time on an old watch he had been given to have in his room by aunt Petunia so he would know when to get up to start frying the bacon and eggs. It showed 05.35 in the morning. Harry growled.  
'_Well I'm certainly not getting back to bed after that', _he thought.  
Then his eyes fell on a piece of parchment that was lying on his bedside table. He had a distant memory of sitting with it in his bed the night before trying to figure out something to write. But what had he been thinking of writing?

Then his gaze fell at Ron, whose bed was right beside Harry's, and it hit him. Ginny! He had promised he would write her! Yesterday he had been so caught up in his day when he thought through it in search for what to write that he had given up. Maybe now was a good time to get started on the letter then?  
With that in mind, he picked up the parchment and a quill and sneaked out without making any of the others wake up. He silently made his way down the spiral stairs to the common room. It looked different now that it was only lit by the still glowing ashes in the fire and a few candles. Harry sat down by the fireplace and put more wood in it. He had learned how to make a successful fire in a fireplace when he was 6 and soon enough a small fire lit the room. Harry pulled up his parchment and quill and leaned back. Now, what should he write about?

Thinking of it, there was a ton of things he wanted to tell her and he had almost started writing when the thought struck him that she may not want him to spoil every little surprise before she could attend herself. That really gave Harry something to think about. Then what should he write? He could of course write about the train ride, but telling her how fun her brothers were having without her wasn't either a very good idea, seeing as she had been so torn up that they were leaving. And then what did he have left to write about?  
'_Hey Ginny! It seems I'm the walking prison of Lord Voldemort, but don't worry I'm fine'_, he thought skeptically.  
No, that was definitely going to stay out of his letter, or else she would think he was mental. Harry bit his lip and cursed under his breath. How could it be so hard to write a stupid letter?!

He sat like that for another ten minutes before he sighed and leaned back in his sofa. What would Ginny want to hear about? What did he know about her? Now that he thought of it, not much. When he thought back to their meeting at King's Cross, he realized that the only thing he actually knew was that she was one year younger than him and a few things her brother had told him on the train. He wondered how she was putting up without them. He nodded slightly as his curiosity about his first claimed friend overcame him and before he knew it, the common room was filled with the unmistakable of a quill running over parchment.

_Dear Ginny!  
How are you holding up? I hope you are doing ok, even without your brothers. Don't worry too much, they will be back before you know it!  
And speaking of which, Ron is worried that you will be mad at him when he comes home but try to leave him intact, will you? _

After that, he made a stop. Maybe that was a little harsh? It sounded almost as if he accused her of being nuts. Ah, screw that! She would probably just laugh it off. At least he hoped so as he continued his writing.

_I haven't even been on Hogwarts a whole day when I write this but I already love it. It I nothing like where I used to live! I wish I could tell you everything that has happened, but I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you. So I'll just tell you this: it's the most awesome place in the world!  
While we are at it, do you think you could do me a favor? You see, I grew up in a muggle household so I don't know anything about life in a wizarding household and I would really like to get to know more about it. How do you do your laundry? What do you do in your spare time? Does a wizards house look any different than a muggles? I hope you won't think I'm mental for asking those questions, I'm just really curious. Hope you are having a good time and I hope to see you soon!_

Now for the difficult part, how was he going to sign it? His Hogwarts letter had been signed "Yours Sincerely", but he thought that was a bit formal. He had heard Uncle Vernon saying something about "love" when he had read a postcard from his sister Marge but if it packed any of the mutual feelings Harry associated with the word, he was pretty sure Ginny would get angry at him. Even if he never had any training in the matter, Harry knew for sure it was considered bad to be flirting with someone you barely know or have just met, and in this case Ginny matched both criteria's. Thinking through his possibilities, Harry decided to simply sign it:

_Your friend,  
Harry_

The sun had rose over the mountains in the distance outside the windows while Harry had been writing. A few early morning workers had begun to fill out the common room. Harry spotted Percy coming down from the fifth year boy's dormitory and just realized that he did not know how he was supposed to send of the letter. He grabbed his now finished letter and made his way over to the Weasley prefect.

"Excuse me Percy, can I ask you something?"

The older boy turned around and looked down at the first year. Harry tried to look innocent when he asked:

"You see, I got this letter I would like to send to someone about my first evening at school, but I don't know how I'm supposed to send it. You don't think you could help me?"

After a moment of silence, Percy's surprised expression grew into a smile and he stretched in a pompous way that made his prefect badge glimmer in the early morning sun. Harry did his best to choke down the snort of laughter that was close to spill over.

"Of course I can help you Harry, I am _prefect_ after all." He said with a grin that he must have thought of as reassuring.

Percy led him out of the common room and began showing him the way to the owlery. While they were walking, Percy explained to him that the only thing you had to do was make sure the letter was named to the one you wanted should receive it and then the owl would do the rest. It sounded simple enough to Harry. When they had arrived at the west tower of Hogwarts castle, Harry made a note to remember which of the towers it was and maybe he could find his way back, Percy said he just needed to call down an owl and give the letter to it. Looking up among the many owls, he realized just how many there was. Percy explained that some students like himself he was very keen on noting, had their own owl while others had to do with the school's owls. After narrowing his eyes to focus his gaze, he spotted a snowy white owl sitting on a perch on the third floor of the tower. He whistled silently and called Hedwig down. He had been curious to where his feather friend had gone when he didn't find her with his trunk last night. Now he knew. He pulled out his quill again and scratched down _Ginny Weasley_ on the front of the envelope. He then tied it around Hedwig's leg and walked over to the window to see her fly away over the tree tops.

When he got back outside, Percy waited for him and the two of them went down to the great hall for breakfast. Harry used this opportunity to make Percy spill some stuff about how the wizarding world worked. He got a thoroughly explanation about the _Ministry of Magic_ as an answer. Politics had never been his thing and Percy's tiring speech about it only strengthened Harry's resolve to never ever get involved in it. When they made it to the great hall, Harry spotted Ron sitting by the Gryffindor table talking to Dean. Harry excused himself from Percy and ran over to them.

"Hey, we were just wondering where you went!" Ron exclaimed.

After Harry had explained about his trouble sleeping (he left out the part of the exact contents of his dream) and how he had decided to write a letter. When he was finished, Ron muttered:

"You were hanging out with _Percy_? Damn it mate, you are already walking towards the dark side."

Harry, Dean and Seamus, who had joined them shortly after Harry had, laughed at this as Ron made a pretty good imitation of Percy stretching himself to show off his prefect emblem. Pushing the memories of his dream away, Harry felt he was in a good mood as the four roommates made their way back to the common room to prepare for their first classes. After brushing his teeth, Harry looked over his schedule. He had Transfiguration first thing in the morning, then lunch and then they had a double hour of potions making. Harry idly wondered what Severus was up to. He hadn't been sitting at his place by the honorable table by breakfast.

After sorting out all his books, Harry found his Transfiguration book and he and Ron left. After walking blindly for ten minutes though, they realized they had no idea what classroom they should be in, nor did they know the way to any particular classroom. They looked at each other and both held equally panicked expressions. Harry pulled out his schedule again and read. The given classroom definitely wasn't on this floor. They made it back to the hallway just in time to see their stair shift and move to the other side of the room.

"Bloody hell, now what are we supposed to do?" Ron said bitterly.

Harry looked around the room to try and make out where they could find a stair in good position. He double checked his schedule but realized it wasn't going to help as he had absolutely no idea which classroom was which anyway. Both boys swore under their breath as they began running to try and find their classroom. This was really going to be a long day.

* * *

**A/N: Hehe, told you something was coming. I was actually a bit curious to this myself. As you are probably aware, Voldemort's horcruxes all seemed independat of their creator and held a fair bit of conciousnedd themselves. This was proven with both Riddle's Diary and Slytherin's Locket. For some reason i began wondering why the soulpiece left in Harry hadn't shown any signs of an independant consiousness. So i just thought this up :p**

**Anyway! You cant claim not to have anything to say after this chapter so PLZ REVIEW!**


	6. Book One Chapter 6: The first week

**A/N: **Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. I've been off for a vacation without internet acces. I have, however, managed to finish this chapter and almost another one so i hope you are still with me! :) Btw, i must say i was slightly disappointed by the response from the last chapter. I'm not asking for a professional analysis, just a few words about what you think XD PLZ REVIEW!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter!

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_Chapter 6: The first week_

At lunch that day, Harry had already gotten his first warning. After rushing into the classroom halfway through the lesson of Transfiguration, he and Ron had been told by Professor McGonagall that if they were late to another of her lessons, they would be given detention "for their own good" so they could work up what they were missing. However, this made nothing to foul Harry's mood. Despite having missed half the lesson, he had quickly picked up on what they were doing as he recognized it from the books he had read during summer. Too bad, this could not be said for Ron, who was now sitting and sulkily pushing his food around his plate. Hermione had cornered them afterwards and reprimanded them for being late, which had led to an argument between the bushy haired girl and the red headed boy. Harry decided not to get involved. He didn't care what Hermione said right now and he did not want to anger Ron any further. As Harry loaded his plate with a new load of potatoes and mushroom stew, Ron hissed:

"Bloody hell…"

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. He had been going on in that manner ever since Hermione had lectured them. Further down at the Gryffindor table, Dean, Seamus and Neville was discussing the upcoming potions class. Harry had found that potions making reminded him a lot of the cooking he used to do back at the Dursleys, at least the books suggested so and thus felt a little at unease. He nevertheless moved over to the other boys, thinking that talking about magical cooking couldn't possibly be worse than listening to Ron's constantly "Bloody hell…"-ing.

"…and people say that he is even more unfair towards Gryffindors. I think we should watch our backs while we are down there or we might end up crawling on the floor as flobberworms." Seamus finished his sentence.

Harry, who had missed out on who they were talking about, raised an eyebrow in disbelief when Dean explained that Seamus had heard from the older students that Professor Snape was bad news, especially to those of Gryffindor as he favored Slytherin, his own house. The other three boys frowned when Harry relayed his own experiences of the man.

"That doesn't add up. Everyone says he is a grumpy, gloomy up-to-no-good." Seamus said.

Harry shrugged. He would not claim to know Snape very well, but the man had seemed nice enough when he had come to get Harry away from the Dursleys. Seamus and Dean seemed to lose interest in the conversation as they just shrugged and moved over to tease Ron about being late for his first lesson. Neville cast a glance over his shoulder, as if he was afraid Professor Snape had heard them. Harry locked eyes with the black haired teacher who was sitting at the honors table. Severus Snape seemed to once again be watching Harry. Something he had seen must have pleased him, because he gave Harry a quick nod before standing and turn to leave. He had been behaving strangely the night before as well, thought Harry. It was as if he was judging Harry's character. Something about this behavior made Harry feel a little at unease. Lost in thoughts, he did not notice that the headmaster's lips were drawn out in a smile when he watched his potions teacher leave the hall.

20 minutes later, Harry found himself standing outside the potions classroom in the dungeons. He was not too happy to find that they would share this class with Draco Malfoy and the Slytherins. The two houses kept at arm's length from each other, though Draco sent death glares in Harry's and Ron's direction as soon as he got the chance. Hermione was standing a few feet away and was reading hysterically in her potions textbook, trying to memorize everything that it said. She didn't even seem to notice that Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were whispering through their hands and pointing at her. Harry was tempted to walk over and tell them to leave Hermione alone, but decided against it since the bushy haired witch didn't seem to mind. Infuriated by the lack of reaction from Harry and Ron, Malfoy stomped over to them with his goons Crabbe and Goyle in toe.

"That was an ugly stunt you played on the train, Potter." He angrily spat at them.

Ron's face were drawn out in a grin as he answered:

"We don't want to talk to skunks."

Malfoy gritted his teeth in frustration. His eyes sent daggers at the two Gryffindors.

"Just you wait until Professor Snape hears you say that. Then you will be in real trouble." Malfoy's voice could no longer hide his rage. It was trembling.

Just that moment, the door to the classroom opened and Snape walked out, his robes billowing behind him. Malfoy snared evilly at Harry and turned to the potions Professor.

"Professor Snape! Potter and Weasley played a trick on me on the train! They locked me in my compartment and let off a load of dungbombs!" Malfoy cried like a spoiled child who had lost his favorite toy.

Snape's gaze wandered from Malfoy's angry face, to Harry and Ron who was leaning against the wall opposite to the humiliated Slytherin. Without taking his gaze away from Harry, Snape asked:

"When did this occur, Mr Malfoy?"

Harry felt his heart sink. Snape's lips were drawn out in a twisted smile and Malfoy grinned behind Snape's back. Ron growled silently and Harry held out his arm to keep the impulsive boy from lashing out at Malfoy.

"On the train ride here, Sir. They attacked me before they even began school. Surely that can't be accepted?"

Harry bit his lip. He had a pretty good idea of who had tipped off Malfoy. He swore under his breath that he would make Percy pay for it. Their classmates hadn't made a move to enter the dungeon. All had gathered around Harry, Ron, Snape and Draco.

"I'm afraid I don't have any authority over things Potter does outside of school, Mr Malfoy. Now, I must ask you all to enter the classroom to start this lesson or I'll have to take points from both your houses."

The look on the Slytherins faces, especially Malfoy's, were priceless. They looked like they had gotten nicked of their Christmas presents. Harry had to suppress his urge to laugh. Malfoy looked murderous.

"Excuse me sir, I think I heard you wrong. I thought you said you couldn't punish him?"

Malfoy's voice was cold and shocked. It couldn't have been more obvious that he, like all others, had expected Snape to favor him because he was a Slytherin. Harry looked up at his teacher. Snape's face was unreadable. He studied Malfoy for a moment before answering.

"No, you heard me correct, Mr Malfoy. I sincerely wish I could make Mr Potter pay for what he did to you, but since it occurred outside of school I have no saying in the matter."

With that, he turned around and walked back into the dungeon. The student followed suit and soon they were all sitting in the dimly lit classroom. Malfoy glared at Harry as if it was his fault he could not be punished. If looks could kill, Harry thought, he would have been dead ten times over. He returned the blonde boy's glare and only turned away when Hermione, who was sitting beside him, pulled his arm.

"What is it?" he hissed, a little more aggressive than he had intended. Hermione just nodded forward. Harry looked up and realized that Professor Snape was looking at him, as was everyone else in the classroom.

"I ask you again Mr Potter, where do you find besoar?"

Harry frowned. He remembered reading something about besoars in his potions book.

"Um, isn't that a stone you take out of the stomach of a goat, Sir?"

The class' eyes darted from Harry to Snape to find that the potions master was actually nodding approvingly. Malfoy, who had held a vicious smirk on his face when Harry had gotten the question, gapped and then just turned around. Hermione smiled beside Harry and Ron gapped with surprise.

"Very well. It seems you might actually live up to your name, Potter. A besoar is indeed a stone you take out of the stomach of a goat. I suppose you want to tell me what it does?"

"It can be used as a cure to lesser poisons, but I can't remember exactly which."

However, it wasn't Harry who had answered. Hermione had stood up and eagerly answered the question before she could control herself. Silence spread through the classroom. The Slytherins faces grinned in the light of the flickering torches. Harry felt that something wasn't right…

"Sit down, silly girl! And 10 points from Gryffindor for speaking out in class without being asked to." Snape said with a smug grin on his face and an almost bored expression.

Hermione blushed and sat down with a hurt look, but didn't say anything. Ron however, had gotten red in the face, almost as red as his hair. He glared furiously at Snape but Seamus grabbed him on the shoulder to keep him in check. Ron struggled for a moment to control his temper but ultimately satisfied himself by simply grinding his teeth. Harry glared at Snape, but the man had just given them their assignment for the day so he didn't have much time to think about it.

The entire lesson was a complete disaster. Harry noticed the Slytherins trying to push their luck with the Gryffindors and at one point Harry had to literally hold back Ron to keep him from strangling Malfoy. Hermione didn't seem to care for what was happening around her. She just kept her gaze focused on her cauldron and didn't even flinch when Malfoy poured a bottle of a liquid Harry didn't even want to know what it was in her potion. It couldn't be more obvious that she was ashamed of losing points for their house and did her best not to lose any more. Harry felt his cheeks heat up when he saw Crabbe throw something into Seamus cauldron, causing its content to explode. He bit his jaws together to keep himself from shouting out his frustrations. For some reason, the troublemakers had decided to leave his work be so he tried to focus on what he was doing, even though that was easier said than done. Without interference, Harry was finished when there was still 20 minutes left of the lesson. Snape came over to his cauldron to inspect his work and nodded approvingly, before dismissing him from the dungeon. With an apologetic look on Ron, Harry exited the classroom and went upstairs to the Gryffindor common room. Since most students were still in class, only a few seats were occupied. Harry sat down by the fireplace and took a deep breath. He almost wished he hadn't sent of Ginny's letter that morning. He could have made it so much longer with his experiences from his first real school day. While sitting there, he found himself wondering what his friend was currently doing. Was she still sad to be left alone? She probably was. Harry bit his lip at the thought. He wanted to do something about it. While he waited for Ron to finish his class, Harry began thinking of what he could do to help Ginny feel less lonely while alone at home.

* * *

30 minutes later, Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean were making their way down to the great hall for dinner. Harry was silent while the other four boys spit all bad words they knew over Professor Snape. The man's behavior and ignorance to what was going on in class was perfectly disgraceful. They met a red faced Hermione when they entered the great hall. She had apparently went directly to eat dinner after the potions lesson and by the look on her face, Harry would guess she was still upset about said class. As they sat down by the Gryffindor table, Harry noticed a figure in dark robes leaving the honorable table making its way towards them. '_This is going to get ugly'_, he thought as Severus Snape stopped behind them. The other boys, especially Ron, glared daggers at the man and Harry saw that Dean had to grab Seamus arm to keep him from jumping straight at the black haired teacher.

"Mr Potter, I would like to have a word with you when you are done with your meal. Meet me in my office." Professor Snape said with an emotionless voice and then left the great hall.

Ron, Seamus and Dean stared after their most hated teacher. Neville had already lost interest in what was happening and had dug into a portion of chicken wings and mashed potatoes. Harry turned back to his own meal, consisting of rice and sausage. After about 5 minutes, Ron turned back to Harry. After a few seconds of staring from Harry to his soon finished meal, Ron spoke up.

"You can't seriously be thinking of going? That man is bad news Harry! He will probably…" the redhead didn't finish his sentence. After taking the last piece of sausage, Harry pushed away his plate and turned to his friend.

"Probably… what Ron?"

The Weasley boy didn't seem quite so sure of what he had meant, but his face darkened slightly as he said:

"If you are not back by bed time, we will come for you."

After chuckling at his friend's paranoia, Harry grabbed his bag and left the great hall. He went straight down to the dungeon he had left earlier that afternoon. If he had thought the light was dim back then, it was nothing compared to the near complete darkness that was now ruling the corridors of the dungeons. He knocked three times on the door that was the potions Professor's office and entered when he heard a low reply from inside. The dimly lit room was pretty small and the walls were covered in shelves which held various containers with liquid and things Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know where it came from. In a corner of the room, Severus Snape sat behind his desk, which held numerous papers he had been reading before Harry had arrived. He looked at Harry with a look free of emotions and waved for him to take a seat. Harry did as he was told. When he was seated opposite to the potions Professor, Snape looked up from his papers.

"You are probably curious to why I have called you here, Mr Potter?"

Harry nodded. As usual Snape's voice did not betray any of the emotions behind it. His face was like a wax mask.

"I wanted to ask you, did or did you not prank Mr Malfoy on the train ride here?"

Harry felt his heart sink. His teacher had not raised his voice. In fact, he sounded quite amused but underneath that was a hint of something negative. Harry couldn't determine what it was but it made him feel guilty.

"I take your guilty expression as a yes."

Harry nodded while trying to not meet Snape's gaze. He failed miserably and after only a few seconds he looked up to find that Snape actually smiled at him.

"I can't say I wasn't at least slightly amused to find the spoiled brat taken down to earth, but I must insist that you don't play any more pranks while you are at school. Next time, I won't be able to cover for you."

Harry felt his heart ease up a little and grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Suddenly, the cold dungeon room didn't feel so cold anymore.

"Oh, and before you leave I must comment you on your work during class today. If you keep that up, you might prove to be almost as gifted as your mother was in the subject."

Harry, who had been on his way to grab his bag and leave, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around and looked over at Snape as if he had been a ghost.

"Did you know my mother?"

Snape froze as if he just now realized what he had said. He turned around his chair to study one of the many objects in weird liquid that had been put on a shelf behind him. However Harry didn't move a muscle. He waited patiently for the potions professor to answer, though it took everything he had to remain calm. His heart was pounding in his ear and he was surprised that Snape didn't hear it. After a little while, Snape had to accept that Harry wouldn't move without an answer. He looked over his shoulder and met Harry's eyes before answering.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. We were in the same year at school and we came from the same neighborhood."

Once again, Snape found that he had said more than he had intended to and cursed himself for not being able to mention Lily without mentioning their childhood together.

"You were childhood friends?" Harry's eyes bulged out and he was quickly back by the desk. Snape shifted uncomfortably but kept his mouth shut. Harry studied him and then realization dawned on him.

"That's why aunt Petunia was so shocked to see you! She recognized you from childhood!"

Snape scowled at the mention of Petunia's name and Harry didn't need to hear his cold answer to know that Snape and his aunt had not been the best of friends. Eager to find out more about what his mother had been like, Harry tried to push the professor for answers, but instead got a threat of taking points from Gryffindor if he didn't leave immediately. Sulkily, Harry left the dungeon and walked back up to the Gryffindor common room. Despite Ron's and Seamus attempts to check him for any sign of injury they could use to report their most hated Professor, Harry went up to get to bed early. He had gotten a lot to think about.

* * *

The next day passed without much interesting happening. Malfoy stopped by the Gryffindor table to taunt Harry about being the teachers favorite, to which Harry simply answered that Snape was the head of Slytherin house for a reason. Malfoy scowled angrily and left with Crabbe and Goyle in toe. After being introduced to a few more classes and being assigned their first homework, Harry was pleased to find that he recognized most of their work from the books he had read ahead during summer. Ron swore long chants about being given "impossible homework" during their first week in school, which Hermione unfortunately heard. While Ron got scolded by the bushy haired witch, Harry simply leaned back towards in the sofa and watched the fire. The dancing flames reminded him of how Ginny's hair had been flowing behind her back when she ran over platform 9 and three quarters to join her mother in parting with her brothers. Once again, he found himself worrying that she would feel lonely now that she was alone at home. He hoped his letter had cheered her up. But still, a piece of paper couldn't be a playmate. But what could he do about Ginny being alone at home? The answer came the next morning, in the form of Hedwig.

Harry had just finished his breakfast when the owl post arrived. Among the many owls circling the great hall, Harry spotted the snow white Hedwig coming in for a landing. She landed elegantly and consciously shook her feathers so she turned over Ron's goblet with pumpkin juice, which earned her applauds from Seamus and Dean and giggles from Lavender and Parvati. Ron eyed the owl angrily while he tried to clean up the "mess". Harry noticed the letter tied around his owl's leg and quickly moved to release it. When he had managed to take it, Hedwig, who had been feasting on his half-finished bacon, nudged him in the ear affectionately and then flew off with the other owls. Harry put the letter in his pocket. Ron, who had cleaned up his pumpkin juice, eyed him suspiciously.

"I recognize that hand writing." He said, avoiding the main subject. When Harry simply nodded at this, Ron kept on pushing.

"Why is my sister writing to you?"

Harry took and sip of pumpkin juice and calmly put down the goblet on the table before answering.

"Remember what we talked about on the train?"

Ron froze and turned away guiltily. Harry looked down at his plate to find that Hedwig had taken the last of his bacon with her when she left. Chuckling at his owl, he made a mental note to thank Hagrid for getting him such a wonderful friend. And that was when it hit him. Ginny needed a friend, someone to talk to, when she was alone and Harry had gotten exactly a friend like that from Eyelop's owl market. His feelings must have showed on his face, because Ron waved his hand in front of his face and Harry had to shake his head to snap back to reality.

"I asked why you don't open the letter here and now?" Ron seemed to have regained his suspiciousness and Harry's confused silence didn't exactly make him calm down. After what Ron's words sank in, Harry quickly answered.

"I just want to open it in private. Here someone might listen who shouldn't be listening." He said as he motioned towards the Slytherin table where Draco Malfoy had stopped half way through his fried eggs and seemed to try and listen. When Harry met his gaze, he looked away. Ron was silent for a moment, but nodded in understanding. With that, they finished their breakfast and went to find the charms classroom.

By the end of the school day, Ron had found out that it wasn't just in Transfiguration they got homework, it was standard for most subjects in school. Harry had just finished an essay for Professor Flitwick when he claimed to be tired and told Ron, who still hadn't finished neither his Transfiguration nor his charms essay, that he would be going to bed early. The Weasley boy was too caught up in his homework misery to even notice what was said to him. Harry went up to their dorm and put his finished parchments in his bag and dropped it by the bed. He laid down on his bed and took a few deep breaths before picking out the letter from Ginny and unfolded the parchment.

_Dear Harry!_

_You sure are a quick writer! Mum was shocked when your owl appeared outside our window this morning. At first, she thought it was a ministry owl and tried to take the letter but the owl wouldn't let her. _

_Nevertheless, I was happy to find that you actually meant what you said at the platform! I'm glad that you like Hogwarts. My brothers have told me a lot about that place so I doubt you will spoil anything that isn't already spoiled to me. Speaking of which, of course I'm going to be mad at Ron when he gets back, but that's more for him being a stupid prat than he leaving me alone, you know the same old stuff as always. _

_No matter what you say, I still think you must be mental for wanting to know how we do the laundry. I would stay as far away from that as I could if I were you. But I asked mum about it and she said that she usually just hex a few brushes to do the work and fill a big something with water and a little cleaning soup. What she fills with water depends on what is the closest available. I have seen her using one of the pots that dad uses to keep his "collection" in once. I don't know how they do it in muggle households, since I have never been to a muggle house. _

_I will be happy to answer any question you might have though! I don't really get why you want to know such boring things but I will try and do my best to get good answers for you. Mum knows a lot about household charms and stuff so it shouldn't be too hard. I hope you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts!_

_Your friend,  
Ginny_

Harry read the letter over and over three times before putting it down. She sounded so cheerful, yet he knew she was not as easygoing about being left alone as she tried to show. However, she seemed happy at the prospect of doing something she might consider useful, so he resolved to try and ask as many questions as possible so she would have something to think about. And he had a question he needed answered in his mind already. But just as he reached for a quill and empty parchment, he felt a sudden coldness spread through his head. He felt like something icy had been pressed to his forehead and initially wondered if this was what Dudley use to complain about when he had eaten 3 large Daim ice-creams in 2 minutes.

"_Harry…"_ a cold, high-pitched voice sounded inside his head.

Harry's felt his heart grow cold and that coldness spread through his chest as the voice chuckled slightly.

"_I see you haven't forgotten me, have you? Harry… Potter._"

Looking around himself, afraid someone would hear or notice, he remembered the red eyes glowing in the dark cave, and the same cold voice lecturing him during his first night at Hogwarts. After securing the door, he sat down on his bed and tried to relax, hoping that would be enough for him to enter his subconciousness. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a large cave, divided by enormous iron bars. On the other side, Harry could see the large red eyes were eyeing him. He glared back at the piece of soul that had once been a part of the darkest wizard of all time, Voldemort.

"What do you want? I was in the middle of something important."

Voldemort chuckled.

"Yeah I noticed."

Harry glared at his inhabitant. He felt none of the fear he had felt the first time he had faced Voldemort's soulpiece. He knew it couldn't harm him, cause if it did it would feel the same pain and effects. Still, it didn't make him any less uncomfortable to know he held a piece of the soul of the wizard who had tried to murder him and really had murdered his parents.

"Come to think of it, now that you are here I would like to ask you something." Harry said between gritted teeth as he did his best not to either snap or cry. Voldemort didn't miss that.

"It has something to do with your parents, doesn't it?" he chuckled. "Well I would be the best to answer any questions you may have."

Harry had to bite his lip to keep himself from snapping at the shadow of Voldemort. He wanted so badly to destroy this piece of shit, to rip it apart piece for piece for its crimes and the lived it had taken. But he knew that if he wanted an answer to his question, he would have to keep a straight face.

"I just have one. Why?"

Despite the fact that Voldemort's shadow couldn't possibly show surprise due to it not having a face to show it, Harry could feel how the soulpiece froze at the question. Whatever it had been expecting, it clearly wasn't this.

"Why did you attack us in the first place? Why did you try and kill me when I was only a child, I hadn't done anything to you, had I?"

After his question, silence fell in the cave. Harry stared at the soulpiece, waiting for an answer. Voldemort seemed torn between his wish to taunt and break Harry mentally, and his reluctance at giving away such valuable information.

"Do you really want to know?" the voice was much lower now and held none of the mocking tone it usually held when it spoke to Harry. When Harry nodded, the soulpiece gave in. "Very well, I will tell you what drove me, one of the most powerful wizards of all times, to try and desperately kill an infant child."

* * *

**A/N: **As i said earlier, you can expect chapter 7 to be up very soon as i am already half way through it. Please review this meanwhile!


	7. Book One Chapter 7: The snake and dog

**_A/N:_**_ Hello people! I am really really really really like really sorry for the wait! I know i said i would probably finish within a week from the last chap... but well ia lot came up and it didnt go as planned. I hope you still stick with reading it now that i got this chapter up. Dont forget to Review!_

* * *

_Chapter Seven: The snake and the dog_

Even at the end of the week, Harry was still shaken by what he had been told by Voldemort's soulpiece, which he had taken to call Shadow, as it itself kept telling him that it was "a shadow of its real self". Whatever he had expected to be the reason for Voldemort trying to kill him and his parents, he hadn't seen this coming. A prophecy? Of him and Voldemort? He hadn't even been born when the prophecy had been made, how could it possibly refer to him? Voldemort had to have made a mistake.

Ron had not been late to notice his change in behavior and had constantly tried to cheer him up. His first attempt had been by hexing Malfoy's goblet to turn over and empty its content everytime the blonde Slytherin reached for it. This seemed to have more effect on Ron himself, as he and the twins, who had helped him, accomplish the deed, doubled over in laughter. Harry though, remained distant and thoughtful. By Friday evening, Harry was once again sunk down in thoughts when Malfoy made his way over to the Gryffindor table.

"Alright Potter! This has gone on far too long! Don't think I don't know you have been behind whatever has happened to me this week."

Ron froze by his side while Harry just looked up from his uneaten mushroom stew with a tired look in his face.

"What are you talking about Malfoy?"

Ron slowly slipped further away down the table, trying to hide his look of shame. Lucky for him, Malfoy was all worked up about Harry and didn't notice.

"You know perfectly well what I am talking about! Why don't we settle this once and for all, Scarface?" Harry regained some of his normal life as his eyes shot daggers at his Malfoy at the new nickname.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"12 o'clock, in the trophy room. Wizards duel!" and with that, he was gone.

When he noticed that Malfoy was gone, Ron came back and continued eating his own mushroom stew. Harry looked over at him and to Ron's relief, he actually looked like he was back to his old self.

"What's a wizarding duel?" Harry asked. Ron coughed as he sat his stew in his throat and Harry hit him on his back.

When Ron was finished coughing, he explained to Harry that a wizarding duel was when two or more wizards tried to take each other out, using whatever means necessary. When Ron told him that this was the way people used to settle things back when "he-who-must-not-be-named" was strong, and that the loser usually ended up dead, Harry began to panic. No matter how much he despised Malfoy, he didn't want to kill him. Ron managed to calm him by pointing out that neither he nor Malfoy knew any spells or curses that had any potential to take the life of them.

* * *

Thus, at 23.35, Harry and Ron left the Gryffindor tower. In his mind, Harry went over all the charms he had tried this far. He did not know even one that would do any good against Malfoy, at least not directly. He would have to try and use the area to his advantage. Harry felt his chest constrict as he sincerely hoped that Malfoy had not learned any nasty curses at home. They streaked down empty corridors and caught a glimpse of moonlight about once each 5 meters when they passed a window. At the third floor, they both jumped instinctively over a creaking stair step. By 23.50, they had made it to the trophy room. The many cups and prizes were glittering in the moonlight that zippered in through the large windows and shrouded the entire hall in a gloomy, ghostly light. Harry shuddered as a cold ran down his spine. Ron shifted uncomfortably behind him. They stayed in the shadows in the far corner of the room and gazed out over the sight that would soon be a dueling area. At 24.00 exactly, the door to the room opened and a blonde boy entered with wand in his hand. He looked sparsely small without Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. As Harry stepped out in the light, Malfoy called out to him.

"It seems I have overestimated the Gryffindor pride, Potter. At least I kept my word!"

It took a while for Harry to progress what Malfoy had said. Then he understood. Malfoy had challenged him to a one-on-one duel. That was why he was not flanked by his goons. Harry on the other hand, hadn't trusted Malfoy to keep his word and had brought Ron with him, hoping to even the odds a little. He felt slightly ashamed for not trusting Malfoy, but on the other hand, how could he have trusted him?

"Ron, stand back. I will deal with this myself." He said.

He could see that Ron was about to protest but after a glance at Harry's determined face, he just shrugged and stepped back. Harry pulled out his wand and looked at Malfoy. His opponent was studying him with a smug grin. Then a lot happened in a matter of seconds. Malfoy lifted his wand and shouted:

"Relaxio!"

Harry felt the impact of the spell and got thrown back into one of the big cups. He gasped as he felt the air leave his lungs. His back had taken a pretty bad hit at the point of impact. The cup fell and hit one of the medal boards with a big clang. Ron was on his feet and had his wand out in a second. Malfoy turned to the Weasley boy but didn't attack.

"Potter told you to stay out of it." He hissed at his new opponent.

Ron growled and was desperately trying to come up with a way of hurting Malfoy, as he had yet to learn to perform any decent spells at all. However, before either of them could make a move though, they both froze in place. Their glances turned towards the scrap metal that was lying in the corner. A coldness radiated from it, they could almost feel it. Malfoy took a confused step back, but Ron couldn't move.

"Harry?" he called out hesitantly.

As if on cue, the cups and metal badges began to move and levitated out of the way. Harry stood up and turned to look at them. Ron would have been grateful for his friend, but something was wrong. This coldness… it made him wants to turn and run. It crept under his skin and made his heart tremble, as if he was facing a giant spider. And then it was his eyes; those cold, red eyes that wasn't Harry's yet they were. Harry looked around before gently making a motion with his hand. As on command, the cups he had been levitating shot through the air towards Malfoy. The horrified Slytherin gave off a surprised scream and threw himself to the ground, causing the cups to crash into the wall behind him. Ron made a decision and pointed his wand at Harry. This guy, whoever he was, was not his friend.

Just then, Harry began to regain consciousness after being hit in the head by a cup. The foul aura began to fade from the room. Malfoy stood up and regarded Harry with a cautious glare. He didn't understand what had just happened, but he had understood that knocking Harry out was not something he should do again for a while. When the cold aura around Harry disappeared, the black haired boy's eyes closed and he fell to the floor. After a slight hesitation, Ron was quickly by his friend's side. Malfoy slowly walked over to them. When he reached them, Ron looked up at him with an angry look, as if it was Malfoy's fault that Harry had went out of control.

"What the bloody hell just happened?" Malfoy asked, ignoring the venomous look Ron shot him.

After glaring at his arch enemy for a second, Ron let his gaze walk back to Harry who was still out of it.

"I have no idea. Whatever it was, it sure wasn't something I would want to see happen again anytime soon."

"You know, for once we agree on something, Weasley."

Just then, Harry's eye locks began to slightly move. Fearing that his eyes would hold the red, crazy gaze they had a few moments ago, Ron and Malfoy took a united step backwards. However, their fears were unnecessary. When Harry's eyes flung open, they were the same green as they always were. His breathing was strained and his eyes showed signs of extreme exhaustion. Still, Ron felt relieved to see his friend back to his old self and ran over to help him sit up straight.

Harry felt like his head had just gotten cut in two pieces. His scar burnt like fire, yet he felt like he had eaten way too much ice cream, causing his brain to freeze over. He was completely emptied of his energy and had to try hard to even focus his gaze on the blurry world around him. He shakily lifted his right hand and put it to his forehead to try and ease the pain eradiating from his scar. He tried to pull himself up in a sitting position but failed miserably. Then, he felt someone grab him and haul him up.

"Harry? Are you ok?" Ron's voice sounded like it came from very far away. It was as if he was trying to shout it from one side of a very long tunnel and Harry was in the other end. Harry attempted to clear his head by shaking it, but hissed as a searing pain shot through it. Instead, he settled for just groggily ask:

"What happened?"

Ron's blurry gestalt appeared in the right corner of Harry's vision and behind him stood a blonde boy, who Harry recognized as Malfoy.

"Well, you kind of went berserk for a moment there. Just what the heck are you Potter?" Malfoy said with a sharp voice.

"What the spoiled brat tries to say is that you kicked his butt and he is too proud to admit it." Ron said, half cautious, half triumphant.

"Like you are one to talk Weasley, you were too scared to even move." Malfoy bit back.

Harry vision began to clear, along with his mind as he absently listened to the two boys arguing. He had went berserk? How could he have done that when he was unconscious? He remembered feeling an enormous surge of power, radiating from somewhere deep within him before passing out. But after that, everything went blank. As the three first years were caught up in their own thoughts, all of which somehow included the events of the last minutes, they were snapped back to reality when a cat came stroking around the corner. Harry was the first to register the newcomer as Mrs Norris, Argus Filch's pet cat.

"Guys, I think we better get out of here!" he said exclaimed as he tried to stand up. His legs failed him miserably and he fell back towards the ground. Ron snapped out of his thoughts and grabbed Harry by the robe and swung his arm over his shoulder, helping him stand up. After a look at the two Gryffindors, Malfoy, to the other two boys' great surprise, went over and grabbed Harry's other arm, albeit reluctantly. When he noticed the other boys staring, Malfoy grimaced.

"Don't get any funny ideas. I just don't feel like giving that old relic a good reason to smile."

With that clear, Malfoy began draggin Harry and Ron away from the trophy room. They moved fast and quiet through the corridors. The moon had already disappeared, thus leaving some corridors completely dark while others were lighted by torches. It was in one of those corridors that Harry finally spoke up.

"You know Draco, you aren't as bad as you look."

Despite that Draco had been the reason he had been in risk of getting into trouble in the first place, the Slytherin had given Harry a better impression of himself than Harry had first got of him. He couldn't help but feel that maybe there was more to Draco than met the eye. He was still mainly a stuck-up git, but maybe with time he could turn into something else. Malfoy made no sign of having heard him, but Harry was sure that the blonde boy had made notice of the friendly comment. However, they soon got other things on their mind. Just as they ran up a staircase and turned right, Malfoy froze on the spot. Ron, who hadn't been prepared for the sudden halt, almost tripped on himself.

"What was that for?" Ron exclaimed angrily at the blonde boy. However it was Harry who answered.

"This is the third floor's corridor, the one that we are forbidden to enter."

It wasn't hard to see that it was really forbidden. The walls and the floor was covered in dust and it looked like no one had been there for a very long time. Something about the place made Harry's stomach clench and judging from the sudden stiffness of Draco's and Ron's shoulders, they weren't faring much better. Luckily, some of Harry's energy had returned to him and he was able to stand of his own accord. He let go of the other two and Malfoy and Ron rolled their shoulders in appreciation. Harry was just about to say that they should head back and find another way to their dorms when they heard a raspy voice coming from not too far behind.

"I know you are there! Show yourself!"

After a glance at each other, the three boys set off down the forbidden corridor. With Filch by the exit, they had no way of escaping through that end. Their hasty footsteps echoed through the corridor and in the back of his head, Harry were almost sure that their footsteps would give them away. It was trivial to run if they would get found anyway. Just as Harry felt like they were caught, they reached the end of the corridor, a brick wall which held a single wooden door. The lock on the door looked ancient and was very big. Thinking quickly as they heard hurrying footsteps behind them, Harry remembered a spell he had read about in their school book of charms. Determinedly, he pulled out his wand.

"Ron, step back!" he hissed and pointed his wand at the lock. When his friend after a slight scowl, moved to the side, Harry waved his wand.

"Alohomora!"

The worries he had felt since he had never actually used the charm were quickly erased when he heard the lock click. He didn't wait a single second to throw the door open, to his two followers shock, and dive inside. Ron and Draco quickly followed his example and slammed the door shut behind them. As soon as the door was shut, the boys began stumbling over each other to get the spot to listen through the keyhole. Harry eventually gave up and turned to check out what kind of room they had entered. And froze in place. Asleep on the floor, with its heads resting on a large trapdoor, a giant dog was lying calmly. Harry felt his chest constrict with shock and fear when he realized that it wasn't three dogs that was lying in a pile over the trapdoor, but one large dog with three heads. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming out loud. The sounds of Ron and Malfoy still fighting for position of keyhole-listener seemed to glide out of his head when he saw that one of the heads began to wake up.

"Uhm, guys? I think you might want to see this." He tried to gain their attention. However, the boys seemed to be too occupied with each other to notice him. On the other hand, the dog seemed to have heard him as another of the heads sharpened its ears and began slowly yawning as it awoke from its slumber. Harry began to panic. If it stood between being lectured by Filch and torn to pieces by a giant three headed dog, he would rather avoid the latter. He began slowly backing away from the dog, but unfortunately Ron picked that moment to turn and see where Harry had gone. The red haired boys scream of fear echoed through the room. The dog stood up on all four in an instant and jumped towards the boys. Harry grabbed Ron and dove towards the door. Draco screamed in shock and took a confused step back and grabbed the doorknob. He managed to open the door just in time for Harry and Ron to fall out through it and land on top of him. Ron quickly got up and managed to push Harry off Draco with his clumsy movements. Harry got up and threw himself at the door. He managed to close it just before the dog's head hit it. No longer pinned to the ground, Draco quickly got up as well and ran over to help Harry lock the door. Ron joined them and together they managed to close it. The three fell to the ground, trying to regain their breath. Harry felt his heart beat at an unnatural pace. That evening had just been too much for him. His head felt like it had been hit by a large rock. After a few minutes, during which Harry thought it was a miracle that Filch hadn't found them, Ron spoke up.

"Let's go back to our dormitories. If someone asks, we were out doing some kind of prank with Peeves."

Harry just nodded slowly as he felt Ron and Draco lift him off his back. Now that he had time to think clearly, there was something he was a little troubled about. He had some really interesting questions for Shadow when he got to bed.

"Yeah, rather getting caught sneaking dungbombs into someone's room with Peeves than getting caught hanging out with two Gryffindors." Draco's voice echoed through the otherwise silent corridor. Harry laughed slightly at the comment.

"The feeling is mutual, Malfoy." He answered before turning to stumble, rather than walk, towards the Gryffindor common room. Ron quickly picked up and helped steady him. Malfoy watched the two boys for a moment before turning his back to them and began making his way towards the dungeons.

* * *

Harry had barely opened his eyes to face his inner cave before he was greeted by Shadow's cold laugh. He bit his jaws together and turned to face the piece of soul. Voldemort's red eyes shone back at him and Harry felt like Shadow was mocking him.

"You!" he exclaimed angrily as he felt his temper rise.

"Yes. Me." Shadow said with a taunting voice. Harry bit his lip to keep himself from shouting out his anger. If he wanted answers now, he had to keep calm.

"It was you, wasn't it? It was you who triggered that surge of power Ron was talking about!" Harry felt his voice tremble, with fear or anger he didn't know, but he cut his accusation short anyway. Shadow gleefully grinned at him evily.

"Well maybe I was partly responsible for it." He said.

Harry glared at his inhabitant. He waited for him to continue his explanation. He could tell Shadow was dying to keep on bragging about his feat and he didn't get disappointed.

"From what I could tell, your mental barrier grows weaker if you gets knocked out or become mentally unstable. When your barrier is down, I can slip a portion of my power through it."

After his words sunk in, Harry found himself calming down for some reason.

"So you weren't in control?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"No I wasn't. If I had, then no one would have left that room alive, not even you. If your barrier grows too weak though, I believe I could take full control of your actions but in that state, all I can do is use my power to affect your actions. We could try it out to see where your limit is if you want?" he added the last sentence as a dry joke.

"No thanks." Harry replied just as dryly. He considered what Shadow had just said and remembered something.

"Wait, I have mental barriers? What does that mean?" suddenly, he felt suspicious again. Shadow however, seemed like he had enough fun. He closed his eyes and vanished into the void of darkness behind him. After waiting a few minutes for Shadow to return, but when he did not he resolved to check up on it in the library the following day.

* * *

**A/N: Well, what do you think? And as an answer to a very funny question i got in review, yes i do read Naruto. Harry's mindscape and all that stuff is partly influenced by the Jinchuriki thing in the Naruto universe. Now dont forget to review and i will update faster!**


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